With the Maple Leafs needing to make a move to open up a roster spot and free up the cap space to officially activate Calle Jarnkrok off LTIR, they’ve elected to send Nicholas Robertson down, announcing that they’ve assigned the winger to AHL Toronto.
The 22-year-old started the season in the minors with the Maple Leafs taking advantage of his waiver exemption. He fared quite well early on with the Marlies, picking up five goals and six assists in nine games with them, resulting in a recall back to the big-league club back in early November; he had been with the Leafs since then until now.
Robertson has played in 41 games at the NHL level so far this season, a career-high. He has put up reasonable offensive numbers with eight goals and 11 assists in those appearances while averaging a little over 11 minutes a night almost exclusively at five-on-five. He had been playing regularly as of late but once again, his waiver exemption likely worked against him.
Once the trade deadline passes, there are no more limits on roster sizes so depending on what Toronto’s salary cap situation looks like by then, it’s quite possible that Robertson is back with the Maple Leafs by this time a week from now if he is still with the organization at that point. If not, he’ll have an opportunity to play much bigger minutes with the Marlies which could help him heading into restricted free agency this summer.