Leafs' Treliving seems to shut down Robertson's trade request

Many storylines have circled over the last week regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs, but perhaps none were more out of the blue than a recent trade request.

On Sunday night, the news broke via a report from TSN’s Chris Johnston that Leafs forward (and restricted free agent) Nick Robertson had no interest in re-signing with Toronto, and was seeking to get his rights traded to another team. Robertson, a 2019 draft pick by the Leafs in the second round, put up 14 goals and 13 assists in 56 games for the team this past season.

While seven players have departed so far to other teams, Robertson remained in Toronto through the first day of free agency. And based on comments from Leafs GM Brad Treliving, he seemed to have shut down any thoughts of trading Robertson right now, alluding to working with him on a new contract.

“As far as Nick is concerned, he is an excellent young player. I am not going to get into play-by-play. I haven’t seen the reports. I have certainly known that there was some frustration with Nick on his behalf, but we look at Nick as an excellent player. There is great opportunity for Nick here. We need him to be a good player for us,” Treliving told the media on Monday. “I am not going to get into any speculation or public back-and-forth. We will just leave it at that and continue to move forward.”

As a restricted free agent, Robertson holds little leverage in the situation. Should he opt not to sign with Toronto, he would remain ineligible to sign elsewhere unless the Leafs give up his rights or trade him, given the fact the Leafs tended him to a qualifying offer in June.

Treliving also spoke about his excitement with the team’s young forward group as a whole, singling out Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten (even if he seemed a bit reluctant about doing so).

“We think we have some young players coming, but we certainly don’t want to start jamming young players in if they are not ready. I know everybody gets excited about the Cowans and Mintens,” Treliving said. “I hate naming names because you leave someone out, but we have some players with the Marlies as well.”

You might also like:
• Leafs lose seven players to other teams in free agency so far