Are you ready for another round of trade speculation on Nick Robertson? TSN certainly is.

In Friday’s trade bait article, the Maple Leafs’ forward ranked 11th out of 30 players listed as likely to be on the move.

Talking trades and Nick Robertson is nothing new. Robertson had a strong season last year with 14 goals in 56 games, but as a frequent healthy scratch, the young forward was looking to move on from the Maple Leafs and put in a trade request and appeared reluctant to re-sign with the Maple Leafs. It seems that reassurances were made and that there would be a spot for Robertson on the Maple Leafs roster and Nick has played in 35 of the Leafs’ 43 games to date this year, with the Leafs living up to their end of the bargain.

The beginning of the season was still rough for Robertson. The first 23 games of the season resulted in just two goals (two points total) for him. Given that secondary offence is the reason for Nick being in the lineup, things were very much looking like it was time to simply cut losses and perhaps just accept the reality of waivers as a trade would even be a tall order at that point. Robertson has put up nine points in the 12 games since that point, including five goals. He’s found a fit with Bobby McMann and Max Domi, another player who needed to turn his season around, and his value as a secondary scoring option has been established.

Robertson is now what the Leafs wanted him to be and at $875k for this season before becoming an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent, and that should spark the debate about whether or not Robertson is more valuable to the Leafs in the lineup or as trade bait.

Despite Robertson being the right fit for the Maple Leafs’ salary cap and the need for secondary scoring, the fact that the Leafs seem to be pursuing a centre speaks to his current role being forced to change and there being a possibility of him being pushed down the depth chart occurring as well. If the Leafs make the changes they are expected to, Max Domi is unlikely to be Robertson’s centre and the line that has brought his recent success will look somewhat different. Given that he doesn’t play a style that fits with the Leafs’ fourth line, he could potentially be back on the path to press box or have to rely on fitting in where relief for an injured player is required. As good as Robertson’s outputs have been of late, there still are concerns about whether he can fit elsewhere in the lineup, and with his lack of size and defensive acumen, his game is perhaps too one dimensional to endure another long learning curve.

Robertson, at least on the surface, is also what a lot of selling teams are looking for heading into the deadline. He’s a young player who can play in a lottery team’s top six the day he is acquired. A reloading team is going to see a lot more value in a one-dimensional scorer than a contending one, and there is bound to be at least one team that sees his finishing ability as something that can complement one of their young centres. While Robertson may not hold a lot of trade value, he is a player who has now shown he can score in the NHL at around a 20-goal over an 82-game pace and at 23 his best days are likely still ahead of him.  Of course, those other teams are also aware of his lack of defence and rough start, so his value will have some risk mitigation considered.

The question for the Leafs when it comes to trading Robertson is whether cheap secondary scoring is more valuable than what they are receiving in return. He has played his way back into being an asset for the club and there should at least be some reservations about moving on from a promising 23-year-old.