Nick Robertson isn’t worried about what Max Pacioretty is doing.
Or, for that matter, any other player vying for a job on the Maple Leafs’ wing during the pre-season.
“You’re always competing,” Robertson said on Tuesday morning. “I just got to do what I got to do. I’m focused on myself and playing well and coaches sort that stuff out.
“We’re all competitors. We’re not just competing against one guy. We’re always competitors in practice.”
tap here to see other videos from our team.
On Tuesday night in Ottawa against the Senators in the Leafs’ second pre-season game, Robertson will skate on a line with centre Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann. Robertson was on the right side with the trio at the morning skate at the Ford Performance Centre.
The Leafs will go with a mostly young group in the nation’s capital. Of note, David Kampf will centre a line between Matthew Knies and Alex Nylander, while Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin will skate with centre Logan Shaw.
Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins will form one defence pair, while Anthony Stolarz is expected to start in goal.
Captain Auston Matthews, meanwhile, departed the practice that involved non-game players. After the Leafs switched ice pads, Matthews walked off without assistance. There was no immediate word from the team on the reason for Matthews’ departure.
After watching Pacioretty score two goals in the pre-season opener against Ottawa on Sunday, Robertson said he is not further motivated to produce at the Canadian Tire Centre. In fact, Robertson was supportive of Pacioretty’s dual appearance on the scoreboard. The latter is in camp on a professional tryout, which many figure will lead to a contract before the regular-season opener on Oct. 9 in Montreal.
“It’s good to see him do it,” Robertson said. “He has had a tough road and for him to start off like that, it’s good to see.”
There’s no guaranteed lineup spot for Robertson after a bumpy summer during which he asked for a trade and didn’t sign until two weeks ago. Even if the off-season had unfolded smoothly for the 23-year-old, he knew he was going to have to work to earn a job under new coach Craig Berube.
“Control what I can control and as the game goes, you get more confident, you get more comfortable,” Robertson said, looking ahead to Tuesday night. “These pre-season games are meant for you to get comfortable and get back into it, and that’s been I’ve looking forward to.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Winger Calle Jarnkrok was not on the ice on Tuesday and is day to day with a lower-body injury … Stephen Lorentz, who had been nursing an upper-body injury as he tries to earn a job on a PTO, took reps on the left wing with Matthews and Mitch Marner … The Sens will have a lineup that includes captain Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux, and defenceman Jake Sanderson. Rookie defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, who burned the Leafs in overtime to give the Sens a 6-5 win on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, is not slated to be in the Ottawa lineup on Tuesday night.
X: @koshtorontosun