Nick Robertson was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in July. How will he do this season?
It's been almost a month and a half since the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Nick Robertson from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Penguins acquired Robertson on Jul. 1 and announced it in hilarious fashion. Penguins PR put out the headline "Penguins Acquire Robertson" when the trade was made official, since they were also going after Jason, Nick's brother, in another trade. They didn't get Jason, but the announcement for Nick was still awesome.
Robertson is a player that Penguins general manager/president Kyle Dubas knows extremely well. He drafted him in 2019, when he was the GM of the Maple Leafs, and oversaw his development.
Robertson debuted during the 2020-21 season, when Dubas was still the GM, and spent six seasons with the Leafs before the Leafs dealt him to the Penguins. He even requested a trade in 2024 over a lack of opportunities.
He has seen his goal-scoring increase in each of the last three seasons and had his best season yet in 2025-26, finishing with 16 goals and 32 points in 78 games. He averaged 12:39 on the ice in a bottom-six role, and I expect him to have that same role with the Penguins for the 2026-27 season.
Robertson strikes me as a player who would be a good fit for the third line since he's been a solid depth scorer these last few seasons. He has shot at least 12.6% in each of those seasons, with his highest being 14.6% during the 2023-24 season.
I think he'll be able to read off Ben Kindel, who's much more of the playmaker on that line. Kindel still has a great release, and I expect him to push for a 20-goal season, but the way he sees the ice is already fantastic and would pair well with Robertson.
Robertson will definitely be an option on the second power-play unit after spending 86:06 on the Maple Leafs' PP last season. He may not be one of the first forwards out there, but he'll be an option throughout the season.
He saw an increase in time on the penalty kill last season, but it doesn't mean much. He played 4:13 on the PK during the 2024-25 season before that number went up to 7:33 last season. Similarly to Tommy Novak, I wouldn't expect Robertson to spend much time on that unit unless the Penguins' coaching staff has different plans for him.
Considering that Robertson's goal total has gone up in each of the last three seasons, I think he has a decent shot of hitting 20 this year. He's in a new environment with a coaching staff that knows how to get the most out of new players. That was on display last season with the likes of Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau, Egor Chinakhov, Parker Wotherspoon, etc.
Let's see if Robertson can be the next player who takes off in his first season with the Penguins.
(Data via Natural Stat Trick).
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