Maple Leafs' Nick Robertson out at least six weeks

It has been somewhat of a frustrating year so far for Maple Leafs winger Nick Robertson. Unfortunately for him, the bad news continues as Sports Illustrated’s David Alter relays that he will miss six to eight weeks due to the shoulder injury that he suffered on Thursday against Los Angeles. However, he won’t need surgery this time around and will simply rehab the injury this time.

This is the third straight season in which he has suffered a significant injury. Two years ago, a knee issue limited him to just 27 games between the NHL and AHL, and last season, a non-displaced fracture of his right fibula resulted in him suiting up just 38 times. This setback will cost him upward of 20 contests as well, more if he winds up being out longer than this projected timeline.

Robertson had a strong preseason showing that saw him pick up eight points in five games, but he didn’t break camp with the big club. Early injuries that used up Toronto’s ability to utilize LTIR landed the 21-year-old on the NHL roster soon after. But he has been a frequent healthy scratch and hasn’t seen a lot of action when he has been in the lineup. He’s averaging less than 11 minutes a night over his first 15 appearances even though he has five points in those outings.

Robertson is still waiver-exempt through next season, and it stands to reason that he’ll be back with AHL Toronto when he’s cleared to return in order to give him a few games to get back into playing condition. From there, the battle to lock down a regular spot in the lineup will continue at a time when it will be just a few weeks away from the trade deadline in early March.