The injury to Matt Murray provided the Maple Leafs with enough cap space to recall winger Nick Robertson and he made an immediate impact, scoring twice in Toronto’s overtime win against Dallas on Thursday. On the surface, it would seem like this is at least a short-term opportunity for him to prove himself but Postmedia’s Michael Traikos posits that there hasn’t been a better time for them to trade the 21-year-old. The Maple Leafs don’t have the deepest of prospect pools but Robertson is someone who is NHL-ready or very close which would be appealing to many rebuilding teams. With the team in need of some help on the back end, a player like Robertson is someone they could potentially dangle to try to add that defensive help.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Canadiens could soon be getting some help on the injury front as TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie relays (Twitter links) that defenseman Joel Edmundson and Joel Armia both took part in practice with a non-contact jersey. Both players have yet to play this season with Edmundson suffering a back injury in a collision with Nick Suzuki in a pre-camp practice while Armia suffered an upper-body late in the preseason. Montreal is carrying a full-sized roster at the moment so when these two are cleared to return, they will have to make some moves to open up roster spots for them.
- Still with Montreal, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Juraj Slafkovsky is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The first-overall pick is coming off his best game that saw him score his first NHL goal while logging over 14 minutes of ice time for the first time but it appears he’ll have to wait a few days to have a chance at his second tally. Rem Pitlick is expected to take Slafkovsky’s place on the fourth line tonight.
- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin left Friday’s game against Chicago briefly with an injury and while he returned, head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press postgame that Larkin was dealing with some upper-body pain postgame. He’s scheduled to be reevaluated today. The captain is off to a strong start to his contract year with five points in four games this season.
Johnny Z
If Robertson is so hot, why not trade Willie for Chychrun straight up?? Leafs need cap relief and defense. AZ with Nylander, if flipped, could fetch more than Chychrun could to a contender. Win-win!
BuJoBi
I like the idea, just don’t see Arizona taking a 8 million dollar player, they wanna move chychrun to save money
doghockey
Are you aware that both teams must agree to any trade?
BuJoBi
Stupid article. Sure trade our top prospect, making less then 1 million a season, soon as he ready to produce. Also trade for who? We have no cap room at all. Is there a 900k player somewhere who will produce that another team willing to give away? Silly