To kick off Wednesday's free agency, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded left winger Nick Robertson to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun was first to report Robertson getting moved to the Penguins, while Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman added the Maple Leafs' return of a fourth-round pick. That draft pick comes in the 2028 draft.

Robertson is an RFA who received a qualifying offer from the Leafs. He's coming off a one-year contract that was settled in arbitration, earning a $1.825 million salary.

With this move, Robertson will be reuniting with Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, who drafted him 53rd overall in the 2019 NHL draft.

While averaging 12:40 of ice time per game this past year, the 24-year-old scored 16 goals and 32 points for Toronto.

In a new situation, on a retooling team like Pittsburgh, Robertson will get plenty more opportunities under head coach Dan Muse.  The Penguins have been inserting younger players into the roster, such as  Ben Kindel and Egor Chinakhov, and they acquired 24-year-old Hendrix Lapierre on Thursday.

Therefore, Robertson will likely get more than the 11:52 of ice time that he averaged over his 234 games in Toronto. And with that extra ice time, it wouldn't be a surprise for him to reach the 20-goal plateau as soon as next season.

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