Penguins Assistant GM Jason Spezza got to know Robertson from two different perspectives: as his teammate for parts of two seasons with Toronto, and then as a member of management with the Maple Leafs for one season before joining Dubas in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cNick’s a guy I know well personally, the team knows well,\u201d Spezza said. \u201cHe’s a guy that brings a lot of energy, can score goals. Just overall, a really good player.\u201d<\/p>\n
The now 25-year-old forward has made steady progress toward becoming an impact NHL winger. Over the past three seasons with Toronto, Robertson steadily increased his goal totals (14, 15, and 16), playing a career-high 78 games in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for me, every year you want to get better, and just as a player, production-wise as well,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cObviously, I had a good year last year. I want to do even better. So, for me, I just think building on my confidence, and the numbers will fall where it falls. I think when I’m confident, when I’m comfortable in doing everything I can to prepare myself for games, I think the best will come out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robertson will be given every opportunity to develop and become the player he wants to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s a tenacious player. I think it\u2019s the speed, and I think he\u2019s got a good stick,\u201d Muse said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if people talk about what he can do away from the puck and on the defensive side as well. There\u2019s a lot of elements there. I\u2019m really excited that he\u2019s here, and it was great over the summer just getting to talk to him and getting to know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the jump, management was clear as to what they hope to see out of Robertson in this change of scenery.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the message was to come in and seize every opportunity and to come in just prepared and see where the chips fall of who I play with or whatnot,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cThey said to just play my game, have confidence, and then have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh entered training camp with a lot of forwards all competing for spots on the opening night roster. For Robertson, he is no stranger to earning what he’s been given.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s the history of my career in Toronto,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cIt’s nothing new. I think a competitive environment is good, and it brings the best out of everyone. That’s been my whole career, so it’s nothing new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Robertson is excited to be part of a locker room that is filled with players who are all at different points in their careers, from Hall of Famers to rookies to those in the middle.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s kind of good to be in that mix,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got a bit of excitement from the younger guys, and experience with the older guys. It\u2019s a unique team, but I\u2019m very happy to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penguins Assistant GM Jason Spezza got to know Robertson from two different perspectives: as his teammate for parts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-289747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}