Nick Robertson Winger Nick Robertson might be the first athlete in the history of new arrivals to Pittsburgh to find it easy to get around. Then again, he just moved into a place near the Pittsburgh Penguins practice facility in Cranberry, so he hasn’t had the full Western Pennsylvania driving experience.
“I look forward to learning more about Pittsburgh,” Robertson said Thursday after his first training camp practice with his new team. Who wants to tell him – at least in terms of navigation?
What’s more important, of course, and perhaps less frustrating, will be how well Robertson, who turned 25 earlier in September, steers his course with the Penguins after they acquired him July 1 in a trade with Toronto for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick, then signed him to a two-year contract with a $3.25 million AAV.
Robertson, a second-round pick by the Maple Leafs in the 2019 draft, hopes to become the latest in a series of players who have either become late bloomers or reclaimed earlier success with the Penguins. “For sure.
Change of scenery. Everything’s different,” Robertson said.
“To get to know these guys, these guys have been very welcoming to me. I think I’m at my best when I have fun on and off the ice and comfortable, and so far I’ve been very comfortable.” Robertson went from 14 to 15 to 16 goals over the past three seasons with Toronto.
His pedigree would suggest he might have a higher ceiling. “I had a good year last year,” he said.
“I want to do even better. Just building on the confidence, and the numbers will fall where they fall.” The Penguins didn’t do a lot of line rushes on the first day of camp, but Robertson got to take some turns with team captain Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
Crosby has mostly played with Bryan Rust on right wing, but Rust was in a different group. “It was good,” Robertson said.
“Obviously, he’s a great player. Just to learn from him, hope we get some chemistry.
It was nice to go out there with him.” Whether that lasts remains to be seen. “Every rep – you don’t want to waste a day,” Robertson said.
“You’ve got to get used to your linemates, what they’re seeing. You’ve got to get used to everybody out there, even the staff.
Just taking advantage of these days, and the summer, you had to make sure you were ready to go at camp.” And what a camp. The Penguins’ roster is overloaded with forwards.
While Robertson is most likely penciled in to somewhere among the four lines, he’s not at all intimidated by the competition. “Nothing new to me,” he quipped.
“That’s been the history of my career in Toronto. I think a competitive environment is good.
It brings out the best in me.” Still, Robertson came off the ice Thursday with a sense of some relief. “Obviously, the first day is out of the way,” he said.
“The nerves and stress are out of the way. I can just kind of be comfortable and relaxed and lean on that as the camp goes on.”
