TORONTO — Nicholas Robertson will miss six to eight weeks with a shoulder injury for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The forward sustained the injury when he took a hit from a defenseman Matt Roy of the Los Angeles Kings at 9:18 of the first period in the Maple Leafs’ 5-0 win on Thursday. Robertson left the game favoring his right shoulder and did not return.
The 21 year old will attempt to rehabilitate the injury instead of having surgery.
“It’s not one of those things where you absolutely have to have surgery,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s going to rehab it and give it every opportunity to heal appropriately and take it from there, but it’s just one of those things that they’ll continue to assess as he moves along.”
Robertson, who was selected no. 53 by the Maple Leafs in the 2019 NHL Draft, has five points (two goals, three assists) in 15 games this season and seven points (three goals, four assists) in 31 NHL games.
It is the third significant injury Robertson has sustained in as many seasons.
In his season debut for the Maple Leafs in 2020-21, Robertson sustained a knee injury in a game against the Ottawa Senators that kept him out for four weeks. He played only 27 games split between the Maple Leafs (six games) and Toronto of the American Hockey League (21 games) that season.
On Oct. 17, 2021 while playing for Toronto of the AHL, Robertson sustained a non-displaced fracture in his right fibula that kept him out for 10 weeks. The injury limited him to 38 games between the Maple Leafs (10 games) and Toronto of the AHL (28 games).
“It sucks even more because he’s been through this before and has had some bad luck with this.” Keefe said. “As a young player it’s tough to get traction, but because he has been through it before and each time he’s come out a little bit better, that should give him confidence and belief that he’s got reasons to continue to work and push through and as a result gives us that same confidence.”
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