TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Jason Robertson is willing to admit it now — he wasn’t in shape.



After finishing his OHL season with the Kingston Frontenacs and joining the Texas Stars as a black ace during the AHL playoffs, the then 18-year-old winger struggled in getting up and down the ice and he couldn’t keep up with the speed of AHL players in practice.



Robertson was sent home early. While the Texas Stars played into late June and Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals, the Stars sent him home and wanted him to focus on summer training.



“I kind of let myself get a little loose at the end of the year at the end of (OHL) playoffs,” Robertson told The Athletic. “Coming to Texas I got a wake-up call from all those guys.”



Before he left Cedar Park in May, Robertson had a lengthy conversation with Stars conditioning coach JJ McQueen, who suggested he look into spending the summer in Toronto and work out with Gary...