Maple Leafs giving Robertson a top-six look

Nick Robertson has scored his way into the Maple Leafs’ top six.

For one pre-season game, at least.

The 21-year-old winger on Sunday skated on a line with centre Alex Kerfoot and William Nylander, forming a trio that was expected to play together Monday night in Montreal against the Canadiens.

It’s a natural progression for Robertson, who scored two goals in Belleville against the Ottawa Senators on Friday after scoring against the Canadiens last Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena.

“The last two pre-season games, it’s the best I’ve seen Nick look in a Leafs jersey,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “That has been really positive to see and we want to continue to monitor that.

“I would expect with the remaining games, there are going to be more NHL players

playing (for the opposition) and, with that, Nick and the rest of our group will be challenged more.”

Robertson’s effort usually is without question, but his teammates have witnessed him taking it up another notch since camp started.

“He wants to make this team pretty bad,” winger Mitch Marner said. “You can see it with his games, we see it in practice. His compete on the pucks is great, but I think he has always been really good at that. He uses his body pretty well for the size he has, he gets low on the puck and he’s hard to get off it.

“His shot is something that everyone talks about and it’s pretty deadly that he can get it off quickly. He has looked great all camp and it has been fun to watch him.”

For Keefe, Robertson’s recent success in hitting the back of the net has been what the coach called the “missing link.”

“He has been working really hard, he has been on the puck and I’ve been happy with his play away from the puck,” Keefe said. “He’s an offensive player.

“A lot of times if a guy is not showing the ability to do that consistently with that type of skill set, those are the guys you maybe want to give a little more time in the minors and refine their game offensively at the pro level before bringing them in.

“In some cases, what you’ve done to this point works right away for some guys and others have to make adjustments. I think I would put Nick in the adjustment category. That takes time and he’s still a very young guy, as we know. He appears to be making those adjustments and we can see the contributions coming as a result. We’re very encouraged.”