Penguins' Nick Robertson Primed To Get Another Shot In Top-Six, Where He Never Should Have Left

The Pittsburgh Penguins' most recent loss to the Anaheim Ducks was another blow to a team trying to stay afloat in the playoff race. 

There are many reasons the Penguins have begun the season 6-10-2, and there isn't really a "fix-all" solution to their woes. However, the power play and, arguably, lineup deployment have been part of the puzzle. 

And it appears they may address at least one of those things heading into their Wednesday tilt against the San Jose Sharks to close out their three-game California road trip. 

During Tuesday's practice in Anaheim, the Penguins debuted new-look line combinations for the bottom-nine while keeping the top line of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Rickard Rakell intact. Rutger McGroarty, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) ahead of Sunday's loss to the Ducks, was taking line rushes alongside Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar on the fourth line, while Tommy Novak took the place of Hendrix Lapierre as third-line center between Ville Koivunen and Justin Brazeau.

And taking Novak's place on the second line next to Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel? The team's co-leader in goals alongside Novak, Nick Robertson. 

Robertson, 25, has seven goals and no assists on the season. Yes, he's a shoot-first player, which is understandable when considering the shot he has: his hardest shot of the season came in at 88.08 mph, which is in the 84th percentile of the league.

But a likely part of the reason he hasn't registered more assists is that he hasn't been deployed with other players who can finish.

He began the season on Crosby's line and remained there for two and a half games before being relegated to lower in the lineup. He's been a fixture on the fourth line next to Dewar and Lizotte for a few weeks now as well as a staple on their penalty kill without Bryan Rust, who will be out another four-plus weeks with a lower-body injury. Dewar has only two goals and five points in 18 games, while Lizotte has no goals and five assists.

He has seen next to no power play tiime despite having a career-high in average minutes per game with 13:01. Robertson is also riding a career-high shooting percentage at 20.6 percent, which may not be sustainable. 

His speed, his forechecking, and his shot are reason enough to keep him deployed with higher-skill players who have the ability to both distribute him the puck and finish plays that he sets up. In addition, Robertson's two-way game has blossomed in Pittsburgh in a way that it hadn't during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

According to hockeystatcards, Robertson has the highest net rating among any Penguins' skater with a plus-2.1. Shockingly, most of that comes from his plus-1.9 defense rating, which is the third-highest mark among all Penguins' skaters. 

And further advanced stats don't lie, either. According to data from Natural Stat Trick, among Penguins' forwards this season, Robertson has the highest expected goals share (GF%) at 58.77 percent, the highest scoring chances for share (SCF%) at 61.73 percent, and the highest high-danger chances for share (HDCF%) at 60 percent. And this is despite being on the ice for only 18 offensive zone draws this season in comparison to 57 neutral zone starts and 55 defensive zone starts.

So, what this says is that Robertson is doing a whole lot to drive offense and be a difference-maker on both sides of the puck despite having a limited role with the Penguins so far. If he has the chance to play alongside more skilled offensive players - like Chinakhov and Kindel - he should, hypothetically, only be able to build on those numbers.

"He's scored a chunk of goals for us," head coach Dan Muse said following Tuesday's practice. "He's shown the ability to create offense. He drives a lot of things just with his work and tenacity. He can put that line, whoever he's playing with, in good offensive situations. So, something to look at."

In fact, it's a bit of a head-scratcher that he was taken out of a top-six role and even more of a head-scratcher that he is not part of either power play unit. Robertson is currently on a 33-goal pace, which would shatter his previous career-high of 16 set last season, and he's accomplished that while largely being underutilized in a bottom-line role. 

Should these line combinations stick against the Sharks, it will be interesting to see how Robertson handles his new assignment. Kindel's distribution skills, vision, and improved speed should help set up more high-danger scoring opportunities for him, while Chinakhov's speed and finishing ability should open up an opportunity for him to pile on more production. Hopefully, they can help spark a seemingly dead-in-the-water Penguins' team.

Regardless, Robertson is having a wildly underrated and impressive season for the Penguins, and a promotion is not only well-deserved at this point, it's also baffling that a demotion ever occurred in the first place. 

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