The Maple Leafs skated at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday ahead of their pre-season finale against the Detroit Red Wings.

Nick Robertson has never started a season in the NHL. Until now.

During an interview on OverDrive on TSN 1050 on Friday, general manager Brad Treliving said that the 23-year-old has done enough to earn a spot with the Leafs.

"Very proud of him," Treliving told Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Frankie Corrado. "He's muscled his way right into a position here."

The Leafs start the regular season on Wednesday night in Montreal and, for the first time, Robertson is poised to be part of the pomp and circumstance of opening night.

"It means a lot," the 5-foot-9 winger said. "I was actually talking to my parents about it, they're going to come up for it. It was something I was thinking about coming into camp and I'm glad it could start like that."

Robertson scored five goals in four pre-season games, but that's not what impressed new head coach Craig Berube the most.

"I knew he was skilled, fast, can shoot, but what surprised me about him so far in camp is his work ethic and his competitiveness have been excellent," said Berube. "And, for me, that's what's going to make him a real good player in this league."

Robertson scored 14 goals in 56 games last season. He was second on the Leafs in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes behind only Auston Matthews, but still struggled to stick in the lineup. When he did play, Robertson only averaged 11 minutes and 23 seconds of ice time and didn't have a regular role on the power play. Robertson, who was a healthy scratch in Game 7 of the playoff series against Boston, requested a trade in the summer before eventually signing a one-year deal worth $875,000 in September.

Despite all the offseason uncertainty, he turned the page quickly at training camp. What clicked for the California native?

"It's just because I was relaxed," Robertson explained. "I think I learned that the best of me is being calm out there. You can kind of anticipate better. You can think about things better and also you conserve your energy. I'm a hard-working person. I think I found the balance of when to turn it on, when to turn it off, when to relax, and when to go."

After dealing with a series of injuries early in his career, Robertson finally got through a full season without a serious ailment last year.

"When I get a full summer of working on building on something instead of building back something, it's huge," Toronto's second round pick in the 2019 draft said.

During the gruelling bike test at the start of training camp, Robertson finished a........

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