Some hockey pundits encouraged Nicholas Robertson and the Toronto Maple Leafs to avoid salary arbitration. Nobody leaves those arbitration hearings feeling good about the other side. Apparently, the Maple Leafs and Robertson knew that.

The gap between Robertson’s request and the Maple Leafs’ offer is $1.05 million, but the standoff has become one of the most contentious contract negotiations of the offseason. The Robertson case, as reported by Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Saturday, is the only one remaining.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made the smart play by avoiding an arbitration hearing with forward Nick Robertson on Saturday. As the two sides approached Sunday’s scheduled hearing, Robertson and the Maple Leafs agreed to a one-year,