Toronto Maple Leafs superstar center Auston Matthews took the ice for the club's optional morning skate on Saturday. But when will he return to game action? One lucky Toronto Maple Leafs fan had their night made on Wednesday when the team took on the Washington Capitals inside Capital One Arena. The young fan created two signs ahead of Toronto's game against the Capitals: One for Mitch Marner and his dog, Zeus, which had a toy attached to it, and the other for Nick Robertson, who was a healthy scratch with Connor Dewar and Alex Steeves entering the lineup. The sign featured the Philippine flag and a photo of Robertson and the fan, which appears to be from last season. With Robertson being a healthy scratch against Washington, he wasn't on the ice for warmups. But that doesn't mean he didn't see the photo. The 23-year-old forward — who has one goal in 15 games with the Maple Leafs — came down to visit the fan during the game. Robertson took a photo with the fan, which the Maple Leafs later edited to put on the sign. Robertson has played 15 of Toronto's 18 games this season. The forward has been good at generating offensive zone chances but has struggled to do what he does best: Score goals. The forward scored 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 56 games last season. He appeared in six games during the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Bruins but didn't register a point. Robertson's professional career got off to a rough start. The forward dealt with several injuries during the early years, resulting in him only playing 31 games throughout three seasons with Toronto. As a restricted free agent, Robertson reportedly requested a trade from the Maple Leafs during the offseason. The trade didn't come to fruition and the forward elected to sign a one-year, $875,000 on Sept. 10. Playing mostly within the Maple Leafs' bottom six this season, Robertson has averaged 12:15 of ice time under new head coach Craig Berube. Toronto selected Robertson in the second round (53rd overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft after he scored 27 goals and 28 assists for 55 points in 54 games with the OHL's Peterborough Petes. He followed up that year with 55 goals in 46 games with Peterborough during the 2019-20 season.
