With both teams facing roster questions, the Rangers and Maple Leafs might be ideal partners for a “hockey trade” involving two once-hyped prospects.
We are in the heart of it folks, the dog days of summer. There’s practically nothing going on in the hockey world. The players are vacationing, training, getting married, or attending concerts. Executives and insiders are at their cottages, traveling, or sitting on the beach in peace and quiet. As a result of this, both the free agent and trade markets are at quite the standstill. This lull will likely last for at least another couple of weeks. But at some point, something will have to give. There are too many teams with unfinished business or pieces still missing from the puzzle they are trying to assemble prior to opening night.
The New York Rangers don’t necessarily fall into this category but that doesn’t mean they won’t be fielding offers. There’s plenty of room for improvement in terms of roster configuration and if there’s an avenue for them to explore, they’d be foolish not to.
Another team in a relatively similar situation—both in terms of current standing and offseason business—is the Toronto Maple Leafs. If you take a look at Toronto’s PuckPedia page, it’s pretty clear who their top 13-to-14 forwards are going to be come opening night, at least as things currently stand. However, there are 15 names listed under forwards with one of them still a restricted free agent: Nick Robertson.
Drafted 53rd overall in 2019, Robertson is another left-handed winger, but was drafted as a center and has been listed and utilized as both in the past. At his best, Nick (who is indeed the younger brother of Jason Robertson) is a dynamic forward that can make plays, score goals, and drive play offensively. Problem is, none of those abilities have made a seamless transition to the NHL level, and after three seasons of bouncing between the NHL, AHL, and the press box, there’s reason to doubt that he is going to have a permanent place on an NHL roster, specifically with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It hasn’t been much of a secret that he’s been a mainstay in trade rumors the last year or so. In fact, this time last year he was also a restricted free agent, struggling to get Toronto to agree to terms on something that would satisfy all parties. The fact that a year later the same type of thing is taking place, you have to wonder if this is finally the year the Leafs move on from their once top prospect. If so, is there a world in which the Rangers could get a deal done?
Here’s an idea:
