Nick Robertson scored twice in his Penguins debut, and the Maple Leafs just watched a fourth-round return look worse by the minute.
The second goal came shorthanded, the first of his NHL career. He also scored the game-winner in Pittsburgh's 7-0 rout of the Flyers.
That's the same night he caught Simon Benoit with a hard hit that sent both sides into a scrum. Debut nights don't get much louder.
Here's what stings in Toronto. One longtime Leafs watcher pointed out that Robertson averaged 11:52 a night over six years in blue and white.
In Pittsburgh, he logged 15:02 on night one. More minutes, more trust, and two goals to show for it.
Toronto drafted him 53rd overall in 2019. He leaves with 48 goals in 234 games as a Leaf, never handed the runway he got on day one with the Penguins.
John Chayka's summer of moves has one glaring miss
John Chayka reshaped this roster fast. Kirill Marchenko arrived, Sergei Bobrovsky took the crease, Matthew Knies left, and Easton Cowan is producing.
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Some of those calls are already paying off. The Leafs beat the Islanders 2-1 last night, and the youth movement looks real.
The Robertson deal stands out for the wrong reasons. A fourth-round pick for a 25-year-old who scored 16 goals last season was always a thin return.
This was the one Chayka got wrong. Selling low on a player you never fully deployed is how teams end up watching their old prospects light up highlight reels.
It's like selling the bike you never let your kid ride, then watching him win the neighbourhood race on it two blocks over.
Dan Muse gave him real minutes right away, and the Penguins landed a goal-scorer on a $3,250,000 cap hit for the price of a mid-round pick.
Jim Hiller's Leafs host Ottawa on Saturday. The Penguins host Montreal the same night.
One game doesn't make a season. But if Robertson keeps getting minutes like that and keeps scoring, Leafs fans will keep doing the math on that fourth-round pick.
Was trading Nick Robertson for a fourth-round pick John Chayka's worst move this summer?
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