What a pleasant surprise Matthew Robertson became this year. An afterthought likely to get the Libor Hajek treatment, Robertson took everyone by surprise by playing in 72 games for the Rangers in a primarily 3LD role. Robertson has always been a smooth skater, but he just couldn’t put it all together in the AHL. “Forced” to stick with the Rangers due to waiver requirements, Robertson quickly usurped control of the 3LD spot from Urho Vaakanainen and never looked back. His smooth skating and good transitional play helped him secure the spot and eventually move up in the lineup as well.
Matthew Robertson put up a nice scoring line of 6-12-18 in his rookie season, another pleasant surprise. Given how long it took for Robertson to stick in the NHL, anything more than a part time player was considered a win. Helping stabilize the bottom pair while adding a much needed skating and zone exit element to the lineup was a big need for the Rangers. Robertson was surprisingly solid, good enough to take over the 2LD spot once Carson Soucy was traded.
What’s interesting about Matthew Robertson’s game is that he is so smooth with the puck and on his skates, you barely notice the good plays. It may appear that his metrics and microstats are all over the place, which highlights the areas he can improve, they are somewhat consistent when you take a step back at look at the big picture.
Matthew Robertson was good at transitional play, moving the play from the defensive zone to the offensive zone. That would explain his microstats looking good in defensive zone retrievals and exits. He was surprisingly effective, pressing the play up the ice, accounting for his solid offensive xGAR and CF/60 numbers. A natural side effect of strong transitional play is limiting quality against–not that many turnovers per touch–which is highlighted in his strong defensive xGAR and xGA/60 numbers. Overall just a steady, low event player who is ideal in a Mike Sullivan system that requires low event hockey from bottom of the lineup players.
If you’re wondering why there is still so much red in his defensive zone retrievals/exits section (microstats), there are two pieces to this. First is the number of touches, which given his role and ice time will be below league average. The second is successful exits and exits with possession, which can be impacted by quality of teammates. Robertson spent most of his time with Will Borgen (439:10 TOI) and Braden Schneider (251:24), and Robertson’s numbers improved significantly away from both.
Matthew Robertson was a surprisingly effective and under the radar defenseman last season. He will likely continue in a 3LD role next season, as Marcus Pettersson’s acquisition strengthened the second pair. It will be interesting to see how the Rangers navigate their LD depth this coming season.
2025-2026 Matthew Robertson report card grade: A-
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