Maple Leafs Risk Repeat of Samsonov Mistake as Deadline Approaches to Sign Nick Robertson

As August approaches, RFA's around the National Hockey League are signing their new contracts to avoid arbitration, all but Toronto's Nick Robertson, who is the last player remaining of those that elected arbitration following Winnipeg and Dylan Samberg reaching an agreement earlier in the week.

These situations are always delicate, as going to arbitration can fracture a relationship between a team and player, and on top of that, the process almost always favours the players, which could be a mistake for Toronto's salary cap.

According to AFPAnalytics, Robertson's value on his newest deal should be around $1.5 million per season over a two-year term, but as we know from past arbitration hearings with Toronto and Ilya Samsonov, the arbitration can and often does favour the player.

That's why the team have been encouraged to not let things get that far and to try and meet Robertson somewhere in the middle of his asking price and a fair value, but after scratching Robertson for the majority of their Stanley Cup Playoffs run, it's unclear exactly what Toronto see in his future.

Ultimately, the team have been down this road before, and after the hearing favoured Samsonov, the goaltender struggled mightily in his next season, so to avoid that, Toronto may be pushing to get a deal done outside of a hearing, but for now, all signs are pointing towards the team having to pay Robertson more than they'd like moving forward.