Matt Robertson’s long-awaited Rangers future finally could be here

He first stepped onto the ice wearing Rangers regalia at the club’s 2019 development camp conducted at Chelsea Piers in Stamford while the Tarrytown training facility was undergoing a renovation.

Matt Robertson was strutting his stuff after having been a second-round draft choice, selected 49th overall after the club had taken Kaapo Kakko second overall. He was on the ice with, among others, Kakko; incoming defensemen Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller; and future goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

Five years later, the 6-foot-4, 209-pound defenseman is back again. Five years later, now 23, Robertson is still looking to make his NHL debut. It is extremely unusual for a North American player going through the CHL route to take five years to make his big-league debut and make the team— and it would be unprecedented within the Rangers organization— but that will be merely a footnote if Robertson sticks.

Not all players adhere to the same timetable. Robertson has played 190 AHL games. The Islanders’ Scott Mayfield played 223 games in the AHL while his teammate, Ryan Pulock, played 163 games with Bridgeport. It took until age 26 for Taylor Fritz to reach his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open.

Injuries may have been part of the factor holding back Robertson, but No. 44 revealed he had worked with a mental skills coach this summer in order to address confidence issues he has encountered through his career.

“I really worked on the mental side of the game this summer, try to improve that,” the Edmonton native said. “I think that was probably the biggest thing holding me back, just my mental psyche, being confident and consistent each day.