MONTREAL — Matthew Robertson was drafted by the Rangers well over six years ago, but the big-bodied defenseman is only just getting his first legitimate chance to prove he can be a full-time NHL player.
Year after year, the organization’s 49th-overall pick in 2019 came through training camp without coming close to cracking the Blueshirts roster.
And season after season, whenever the team needed to make a call to AHL Hartford amid an injury on defense, Robertson never got a single look.
It took 2,124 days in the Rangers system before he made his NHL debut last season, which really only came about because the Rangers were already eliminated from playoff contention.