Fair opportunity

How the Leafs can get what they need from Robertson Kypreos

It wasn’t long ago when we marvelled at the performance of Nick Robertson.

The young Maple Leafs winger scored two goals, including the overtime winner, against the Dallas Stars during the second week of the season and it looked like his American Hockey League days were in the rearview mirror.

Since then, however, he’s gone 13 games without a single goal. All of a sudden, a return to the Marlies seemed like a real possibility before Calle Järnkrok’s absence due to injury last week gave him another opportunity.

With Robertson fighting once again for a permanent spot on the Leafs roster, it must have been a nice feeling to put that aside for one game and enjoy one-upping his brother Jason on Tuesday night in Dallas. As far as Nick’s battle to prove himself as a bona fide NHLer, well, that will continue Thursday versus the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Arena.

When it comes to following the Leafs, it seems like it’s feast or famine. Their latest prospects who have gotten a taste of the NHL — Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin and now Robertson — are no exception.

For those who might believe Robertson isn’t capable of reaching the level the Leafs had hoped, I urge them to rethink that.

Let’s start with the fact that I have skate laces older than Robertson. At age 21 and with barely 80 pro games under his belt, he’s only just started his hockey career. No one knows this better than Martin St. Louis, who could be the best example out there for Robertson to follow.

St. Louis struggled greatly at the start of his career, only to become a Hall of Fame player and now head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. He finished his brilliant college career at the University of Vermont as a top goal scorer, no different than Robertson’s last junior season in the OHL with Peterborough. It was even harder then for St. Louis, who battled to find a path to the NHL after going undrafted. He fell through the cracks multiple times, with a failed Senators tryout, and bounced around the minor leagues for years, with teams such as Cleveland and Saint John. Then he had an unsuccessful run with the Calgary Flames before finally settling in with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a free agent.

Robertson’s lack of offence has to come with the understanding that his lessons are still being learned. Coaches always say the only thing you can control is your effort, but that doesn’t even begin to get to the core of what makes a player successful.

Let’s just assume that everyone at this level gives effort. What else is needed? The compete off the puck — the tenacious toe-to-toe fight and refusal to give up — is the difference-maker and can buy you time until the floodgates open on offence.

You can also look at Doug Gilmour’s early days with the St. Louis Blues to see a smaller player’s fight to become a top scorer. Playing behind Brian Sutter and Bernie Federko, Gilmour was scrappy and fought hard every second on the ice until he became the offensive threat we know him as today. It was more than just effort. More recently, St. Louis was one of the smallest players in the league with the highest level of compete you’d ever find at five-foot-seven. Robertson needs to start there.

When I turned professional with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League, I too (once upon a time) was a top junior scorer, no different than St. Louis or Robertson. I just assumed I’d find the same set of goal-scoring hands at the pro level as I did in North Bay. I had zero goals in my first 10 pro games and was reassigned to junior as an overage player. I lost my spot and was heartbroken. It was a tough climb back to eventually put up respectable numbers. Although I was never a top scorer at that level, I had to find another way to make a difference back in Hershey by being a physical player.

I couldn’t have been more wrong to think my hands would automatically follow me to the pros; many junior scoring stars have made the same mistake.

I played junior against Dave MacLean, Wayne Groulx, Graeme Bonar and Mike Millar; all with 60plus-goal seasons in the OHL. They were scoring stars in every sense of the word. But as we know today, none of them ended up being a household name. It’s a big jump to pro hockey.

Robertson doesn’t have to make extreme changes to his game physically, like I did, but he needs to get stronger. He did make strides this past summer, but it’s still not good enough in the greatest hockey league in the world. His game isn’t consistent enough to keep him in a regular spot once everyone returns healthy. St. Louis bought himself time when he wasn’t scoring in those early years in Tampa. He played like a dog on a bone when he didn’t have the puck.

Even if Robertson finds his scoring form, there may be a bigger issue at play. On the topic of things you can’t control, there is now a sense that general manager Kyle Dubas may feel differently than head coach Sheldon Keefe when it comes to assessing Robertson’s true value.

Dubas could really use one of his draft picks to step up and provide scoring relief for his top four forwards. Pontus Holmberg may ultimately find a bottom-six role, but he likely won’t fill the net. Prospects Matthew Knies and Rodion Amirov are still too far away. As I see it, Dubas needs Robertson to get better — now. And that’s hard to do when you have a coach who won’t find a regular spot for you.

Earlier this season, it was quite telling when a reporter asked Keefe about Robertson’s development. Keefe snapped back: “I’m not going to answer this question every single day. It’s getting redundant.” It was an interesting response.

If by chance Robertson finds his game at some point this season, will Keefe have enough faith in him as a top-six threat to hold a spot beside John Tavares and William Nylander when it counts?

The key in all of this isn’t just filling the net. It’s turning your coach into a believer. But Robertson needs consistent ice time to prove himself. That may even mean going back to the Marlies for further development.

Early in my NHL career, a veteran teammate in Washington told me something I’ll never forget: “You’re only as good as the guy behind the bench thinks you are.”

The funny thing is, that teammate went on to record 648 wins as an NHL coach. Thanks for the advice, Dave Tippett.

Change my mind Chicago’s Jonathan Toews still has the passion to play the game.

Watching the 34-year-old jump into a fight with Rangers captain Jacob Trouba after his hit on Blackhawks teammate Andreas Athanasiou showed me two things: 1. How he wanted to remind Chicago’s management team what is missing from their current roster; 2. Show his future team, the one that will trade for him at the NHL deadline, how much juice he still has left in the tank.