The Philadelphia Flyers’ search for fresh, young talent may find renewed vigor late in the NHL offseason with the signing of Toronto Maple Leafs free agent forward Nick Robertson.
Robertson, 22, recently had a stellar year and was a second-round selection in the 2019 draft. In what may be regarded as a mini-breakout season, the younger brother of Dallas Stars talisman Jason Robertson scored 14 goals, 13 assists, and 27 points in 56 games.
The warning, though, is that Robertson has supposedly asked to be traded out of Toronto after spending the majority of his NHL career confined to a bottom-six role.
Robertson’s Eliteprospects profile describes the young left winger as “. . . an offensive dynamo with a very high level of individual skill. His feet are quick and constantly in motion,” and “. . . extremely hard on the forecheck, relentless in puck pursuit, and a big-time trash talker,” making him a perfect fit for the Flyers’ needs.
Additionally, the Arcadia, California, native was USA U20 teammates with Flyers defenseman Cam York and forward Bobby Brink, so he would bring an element of familiarity to an already tight-knit Flyers locker room.
Undoubtedly, though, the obstacle in a Flyers trade for Robertson is the potential asking price from the Maple Leafs in addition to having an NHL roster spot for him to occupy.
Philadelphia is already chock full of wingers after Matvei Michkov arrived in the summer to complement a group of wingers that also includes Brink, Joel Farabee, Travis Konecny , Owen Tippett, and Tyson Foerster.
At the same time, though, Robertson comes younger and cheaper than most players on that list. The Flyers are expected to get some form of salary cap relief from the resolution of the Ryan Johansen situation via a settlement, and the Maple Leafs have $1.275 million in cap space.
Should the Flyers take a player back in addition to Robertson, the flexibility on the return from both sides is there.
Robertson has all the skills in the world to become a top-six winger, and perhaps a little ice time in a better environment with the Flyers can take him to that next level.
