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Brad Treliving wants to make it work with Nick Robertson.
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The Maple Leafs general manager on Monday wouldn’t confirm that the 22-year-old winger wants out of Toronto via trade request, only saying that he knows there “was some frustration” from Robertson last season.
“We look at Nick as an excellent player,” Treliving said. “And there’s great opportunity for Nick here. We need him to be a good player for us. So I’m not going to get any speculation or any public back and forth. We’ll just leave it at that and continue to move forward.”
One would think that Robertson would welcome a fresh start under new Leafs coach Craig Berube after Sheldon Keefe was fired, but we’ll see how this unfolds during the summer. The Leafs took the necessary step of extending a qualifying offer of $813,750 US to Robertson on Sunday.
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Even if Treliving adds a forward or two during the remaining months of the off-season — he concentrated on defence and goaltending in the first day of free agency — Robertson should have an inside track at a full-time job in 2024-25.
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And there as no update coming from the GM on star winger Mitch Marner. July 1 marked the first day that Marner could sign an extension beyond next season, but during his media availability, Treliving wasn’t in the mood for Marner talk.
“Craig alluded to it at his last press availability — he’s excited to coach him,” Treliving said. “We’re not going to address it. Mitch is training, preparing, getting ready for the season.”
Which, really, is what Marner should be doing. Just don’t count on the white noise around Marner and his future dissipating any time soon.
X: @koshtorontosun
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