Ok so- Ive been doing some deep dive research on all the new prospects Ive added and man- what an exciting exercise it was with this guy!! An absolute last minute add when the other owner decided he didnt like Ryan McCleod incoming so added in Robertson if Id make it Ho-Sang on my end. So basically a 1 for 1 or something close to it. Dont get me wrong I still have hope for Ho-Sang but Im glad this little flurry of trading insanity nudged Roibertson in my direction!!

I had read a few posts saying his size (the universally pegged problem for his draft stock) combined with his "ho-hum" draft year numbers are what made him such a gamble. He had just over a ppg in his draft year which is basically like the floor you can have to be considered of having high end offensive upside. Also some deep dives found that problematically his shot charts didnt paint a great picture with his primary scoring coming in very specialized ares- breakaways and the half wall on the pwerplay. This was a decided mark against and suggested a guy who shot from the periphery ala Yanni Gourde. No one doubted his scrapiness or willingness to engage physically but the charts were a fairly solid indicator that he wasnt engaged where he needed to be.

But heres the plot twist. If hed been born literally 5 days later- youre talking about someone who would have been draft eligible this year. 5 days?? He was also playing on a bottom dwelling Peterborough team with pylons for linemates. He has absolutely EXPLODED in production and is still scoring at better than a goal per game right now!! With a line of 50 goals, 76 points in 43 games hes close to 2 points per game and pushing limits histprically. If he can get to 72 goals hes in pretty elite company with another maple leafs property- John Tavares. Hes leading the lead in goals and the next closest guy is Jack Quinn at 48 (to Robertsons 50)- but heres the kicker he did it in 16 less games played! After that theres a drop to 43 for 3rd, 4th, and fith. If he had played 55 games hed be at 97 points or the 60 that most of the top scorers have played hed be at 106- good for 3rd to 5th in total points. Remember this could have been his draft year!! If he had these numbers in his draft year hed likely be a top 10-15 even with his dreaded small guy status. Give him some credit for his extreme youth and stick some actual linemates on his line and now hes a phenom!

On top of all this he plays a grinders game with that skill added on top. Scouts and coaches love his hustle. He seems to never stop moving his feet and battles like an energizer bunny out there (ok maybe fuzzy pink bunnies battling are not the best analogy- but you get my gist!). I believe he might be an absolute diamond in the rough. Im talking Johhny Gudreau good here. I know fitting him in might be a problem due to the offensive depth in TO (Gee as a 15 year fan that feels so refreshing to say!!)- but elite players force the issue and hes forcing it as we speak. Hes going nutty and dragging a weaker OHL team into relevanmce while hes at it. He makes players around him better too.

Dont be fooled by the height issue- he's making it work and theres still hope for a growth spurt- his brother is Jason is 6"2. He can (and has) modified his game to score more when his linemates are questionable and when hes given talent to work with hes exploded making everyone around him better. He even elevated players with whom he had very little exposure to in the WJCs. All he does is exceed expectations everywhere he goes and make players better! OK- Im officially gushing- but its exciting doing research on him. The only knock has been size and production. He cant fix his size but hes fixed his production.

I guess what Im trying to say is... buy!!