Nick Robertson joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade deal from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. The Penguins’ President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas made the announcement about the arrival of the young forward on Wednesday, July 1.

Just a day later, on Thursday, July 2, Robertson bid an emotional farewell to the Maple Leafs, as per the post shared on X by Leafslatest, who credited TSN as their source.

“I just want to thank all the fans in Toronto,” he said after playing in the last six regular seasons for the Maple Leafs. “I thank all the people, all the support. I really cherish my time in Toronto, and Toronto’s always going to have a special place in my heart. I just want to thank everyone for that.”

Notably, the 24-year-old is currently a restricted free agent (RFA) after his one-year, $1.825 million contract, as per Puckpedia.com, with the Maple Leafs ran out at the end of last season. With that, he will have to sign a new contract to play for the Penguins, who basically got his exclusive rights to do so through the trade deal.

In the aforementioned X post, Robertson mentioned how he ended up joining the Penguins from the Maple Leafs and sounded happy to be a part of the organization.

“I had mixed emotions at first, but there were always trade rumors over the years,” he revealed his feelings about leaving the Maple Leafs before learning about the trade deal with the Penguins. “Once I got the call that I was going to Pittsburgh, I was really excited and looking forward to a new chapter there.”

Moreover, Robertson arrives in Pittsburgh to reunite with Dubas, who was the general manager of the Maple Leafs when they drafted him in 2019.

Nick Robertson’s NHL career at the Toronto Maple Leafs: A lookback

Nick Robertson was selected as the No. 53 pick in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs when Kyle Dubas held the managerial role at the franchise.

After signing his entry-level contract in the same year, Robertson made his NHL debut in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Columbus Blue Jackets on August 2, 2020.

With that, he became the first 18-year-old to debut in a postseason game in the NHL since Jarome Iginla did it for the Calgary Flames versus the Chicago Blackhawks on April 21, 1996.

Despite that, Robertson only played 31 games, none in the playoffs, during his first three seasons with the Maple Leafs and scored seven points (3G / 4A), as per NHL.com.  After that, the youngster had a breakout 2023-24 season, in which he ended up with 27 points (14G / 13A) in 57 games before taking the ice in six playoff games.

Robertson performed steadily in Toronto two seasons ago before achieving career-high returns in the recently concluded 2025-26 season. In his 78 regular-season appearances, he got 32 points (16G / 16A) for them, but they missed out on the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons.

After that, during the ongoing offseason, he was traded to the Penguins by the Maple Leafs ahead of the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Will Nick Robertson continue to improve his numbers in the NHL in the coming seasons? Tell us your views in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi