Nick Robertson looks past the cold sheet of ice in front of him to bring his mind thousands of kilometres south: one of his happy places, the sweltering summer shores of Aruba. That’s where the 23-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs winger spent time this summer, finally getting away following multiple offseasons staying stateside and training. On the tiny island just north of Venezuela, Robertson did, well, not a whole heck of a lot.
Even with his entry-level deal expiring and constant trade chatter surrounding him, Robertson wasn’t stressed. He insists he might have gotten up from his beach chair just a few times to snag some ice cream, of all things.
“Off the ice, I’m one of the most relaxed people I know,” Robertson said.
Relaxed? Robertson? The same guy whose most famous contribution to modern Leafs vernacular is “I can’t tell you what a dialled-back Nick Robertson looks like” ahead of rookie camp in 2021?
After multiple injuries and stops and starts to his NHL career, this summer might have been the most tumultuous offseason of his life. His trade request went public but was not met. Instead, he re-signed in Toronto on a one-year, $875,000 contract.
🖊️ We’ve re-signed forward Nick Robertson to a one-year contract pic.twitter.com/GJ0nGp6hW2
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 10, 2024
He could still be waived or even traded. On a deal that still requires him to prove himself by rounding out his game, the left winger is not acting like his life depends on his on-ice success.
“I don’t do pressure,” he said.
Welcome to Nick Robertson 2.0.
The perception of him is fairly defined despite playing just one full season as a Leaf: too serious and focused solely on one goal. But in this updated version, the once-tense Robertson has not only ditched his scowl but also the belief his life is defined by hockey alone.
“I used to be a worrier. Things are in the past. I’m more calm, more relaxed. I knew something was going to happen,” he said of his contract status in a lengthy conversation with The Athletic. “Would you want an eight-year deal at a lot of money? Yeah. But at the same time, you’ve got to look in the mirror. With a one-year deal, this is what my agent thought was best. So I just go about my business whether it’s a one-, two- or eight-year deal.”
At first glance, Robertson’s trade request makes sense. He is as driven as they come but has not gained the playing time he desires.
“I think I’ve heard it my whole life, to dial it back. And I always told them: ‘I’ll dial it back once they know where I stand in my career,’” Robertson said three years ago.
Robertson grins as he’s asked to explain the trade request that might hang over his head as long as he’s in Toronto.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Robertson said. That he’s not agitated at a reporter’s different ways of asking — days after addressing his request toward the start of training camp — showcases where his head is at entering a defining season in his career.
“I’m happy to be back in Toronto. I’m happy the way the deal went,” Robertson affirmed. “I’ve relaxed so much since the beginning of last year, since coming (up to the NHL).”
Robertson has never been afraid to advocate for himself and for his future. He has long sought extra advice from Leafs staff about his diet. Still, NHL players asking for trades is a rarity, but it shouldn’t be. Players get just one opportunity to make the most of their dreams and just a few short years to maximize earnings meant to keep them afloat for their lives.
Though Robertson declines to specifically say why he asked for a trade, his answer to a question about not being afraid to advocate for himself does provide insight.
“It’s not that I think I’m better than anyone,” Robertson said. “I think I’m confident knowing how much work, time and effort, like all (my teammates), I put into it.”
Despite having stayed healthy, his powerful shot and outlandish work ethic, the proverbial carrot has remained elusive for Robertson. Consistent playing time has not come. Does he believe he’s been given a fair shot in Toronto?
He pauses for a few seconds.
“I know that I’ve showcased, and that obviously, in order to be showcased, you have to be somewhat put in a position to succeed,” Robertson said. “So, like last year, there were a couple of overtime shifts, playing with really good players at times, I think I proved that I can play with them.”
A wild summer — from the outside — is a reminder Robertson is wildly misunderstood in Toronto.
“I agree,” Robertson said while shaking his head when asked if he’s misinterpreted in Toronto. “When I came into Toronto, yeah, it was like that. There weren’t many young guys on the team, let’s be honest. It was hard to come into the city by yourself. Over time though, I’ve become a big chatterbox.”
“(Robertson) is sneaky funny,” Leafs teammate and friend Matthew Knies said.
This summer forced him to chat with those closest to him to, in his words, “keep me sane.” That group includes his parents, who remain a guiding force for his career decisions, and his fiancé, Emma.
Wait, what? Fiancé? Robertson, the player who in the eyes of many remains an up-and-comer, isn’t such a young kid anymore.
Robertson proposed to Emma in May, not long after the Leafs’ season finished. Robertson spends much of his offseason living in Detroit and that’s where he met his Windsor-based fiancée. It’s a tidbit he might not have shared in years past.
“She’s been through everything with me,” Robertson said.
While Leafs weddings and other off-ice changes usually find their way into Leafs discourse, Robertson has kept his engagement quiet.
“Probably because of being in Toronto, I stay away from (social media),” he said. “I could post more stuff, but my life is kind of boring, and that’s how I like it.”
There was a time, as recently as the beginning of last season, when Robertson was reading a lot about what was being written about him.
“Let’s be real: When you see some stuff on social media, it can get to you,” Robertson said, affirming what so many professional athletes are probably afraid to admit.
And things definitely got to him when he was demoted to the AHL to start last season. He thought he was ready for the NHL.
“Ugly. Desperate. Hopeless. Distraught,” is how Robertson describes his headspace at the time. “I didn’t know where my career was going to go. I didn’t know what it was going to look like in the future.”
So much changed when Robertson was sent down to the Marlies. He now looks at it as a literal blessing.
“I’m going to be vulnerable with you,” Robertson said of his own sliding doors moment. Early in his latest AHL tenure, he spent a night flipping through TV channels during a road trip. He stopped at a Christian TV show and was transfixed.
The next day, he struck up a conversation with then-Marlies winger Josiah Slavin, an ardent Christian. Robertson was looking for a new purpose. He found it at an Etobicoke church, first with Slavin and then with multiple other members of the Leafs and Marlies staff.
The perspective he gained from following Christianity humbled him. He learned there was more to the world around him than hockey.
As he read more of the Bible and began attending church regularly, Robertson found his grip unclenched. Not every day was make-or-break. He understood his impact in hockey and the world around him would emerge over his entire career, not just in the first year of his career.
“If I hadn’t been sent down to start the season, would I have that calm and perspective that helped me through the summer?” he asked.
For the first time in his career, even as the Leafs and his camp tried to sort out his future, Robertson found it hard not to beam. That’s in large part thanks to his new outlook on life.
“I knew I was going to be back in Toronto. I knew something was going to be done,” Robertson said. “I’ve learned that how I better myself here is different from how to better myself in junior. I’ve got to trust that I put in the work and then I enjoy it.”
As training camp continues, competition for a top-nine spot remains stiff. He scored 14 goals in 56 games last season and should feel confident about his ability to score at the NHL level. He’ll need to prove he can be trusted defensively and is able to play hard minutes. Craig Berube seems willing to give him an opportunity early on, giving him reps on right wing with multiple top Leafs centres. They are reps he’s thoroughly enjoying, like almost everything in his life.
“When you’re having a good time off the ice, you’re having a good time on it. Your body is literally less tense,” he said. “Around the rink, I’m always talking, I’m always joking. I’m really comfortable around this group, especially (Knies, Conor Timmins, Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit). And that makes it so much easier.”
Knowing how Robertson was long a lone wolf dedicated to hockey alone, it’s reassuring to hear him talk about his teammates and Toronto in glowing terms. It was always easy to worry about the happiness of Nick Robertson — the person — relying on the success of Nick Robertson the hockey player.
It might be time to start worrying about him less and less.
“I’m smiling more. Yeah, I was shy before,” Robertson said. “Coming back here, it’s like coming home.”
(Top photo: Gavin Napier / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
