Nick Robertson will make his NHL regular-season debut Saturday in prime time for the Toronto Maple Leafs — and his coach predicts the teenager to come out flying.
“He’s got lots of energy and lots of confidence. He’ll be movin’ out there tonight, for sure,” said Sheldon Keefe, less than three hours before puck drop in Ottawa.
“We’re looking for him to make an impact on each shift that he gets—and he has the ability to do that. He showed that even in the bubble.”
The 19-year-old Robertson appeared in four of the Leafs’ five post-season games in last summer’s Columbus series and registered his first goal.
He then remained in Toronto throughout the off-season to train with his teammates, skipping out on Team USA’s gold-medal run through the world junior championships in order to pour all his efforts into cracking the big leagues.
Tonight, Robertson will replace seldom-used fourth-line winger Alexander Barabanov in the lineup as Toronto looks to avenge Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Senators. Barabanov has yet to register a point and is a minus-1 through two NHL appearances.
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Keefe said he is eager to see how the OHL’s leading goal-scorer has improved his details away from the puck and how Robertson looks from a strength perspective, facing a bullish Sens squad that outhit the Leafs 33-12 on Friday.
“Over the off-season, he has put in a lot of work. How can he handle the physicality of the NHL and the strength of the defenders?” Keefe said. “He and I have talked about that that was a big area that took out of the Columbus series, that gave him some struggles.”
Despite his Leafs scoring eight goals over their first two games of the season, Keefe has been unsatisfied with his offence at even strength, prompting the lineup change.
Second-string goaltender Jack Campbell will get the start in net for Toronto, and third-stringer Aaron Dell will back up, giving No. 1 netminder Frederik Andersen a full two days’ rest ahead of next week’s busy schedule.
On the Senators side, coach D.J. Smith announced Mike Reilly would sub in for Christian Wolanin. Smith would not confirm whether forwards Colin White and/or Alex Galchenyuk would play. Both were healthy scratches in Friday’s Ottawa victory.
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