The Dallas Stars were eliminated in the first round of this year’s playoffs and have some major decisions to make this summer. Chief among them will be what to do with star winger Jason Robertson, who will become a restricted free agent on July 1.
Robertson and the Stars have been unable to reach a contract extension since he became eligible for one last year, and a resolution needs to be reached soon. Given that, trade rumors centering around Robertson should begin to pick up steam again, and hockey insider Jeff Marek was one of the first to offer his two cents on a recent episode of The DFO Rundown.
“I do think that there’s a contract that’s out there and has been out there for Jason Robertson, but he doesn’t want it, and that’s the Thomas Harley deal,” Marek said Monday. “Here’s where the stalemate lurks. It’s the Thomas Harley deal, and I think that Dallas would do that and go full term on it. It’s Harley at the bottom, and it’s Mikko Rantanen at the top. And it’s pretty obvious that all season long, the Mikko Rantanen deal still isn’t appetizing for Dallas [to offer to Robertson].”
“[Robertson] has arbitration rights, and I don’t think they want to go that direction, because he can take the one-year (contract), not get traded, and say, ‘See you later,’ it’s Mitch Marner 2.0. I don’t think Dallas wants to get into that [arbitration] room. I think they need to have a decision before. Either we have a deal, or we have a trade.”
As Marek indicates, past reporting has outlined that Stars general manager Jim Nill has a salary red line he does not want to cross with Robertson. That red line is supposedly the $12 million salary that the team’s other star winger, Mikko Rantanen, is making through the 2032-33 campaign. Instead, Nill would be much more comfortable with the $10.6 million that defenseman Thomas Harley is set to earn starting next year.
Robertson, who is set to turn 27 in July, and his representation clearly believe his value is higher than that, especially after he recorded 96 points (45g, 51a) in 82 games this past season. However, even with the NHL’s salary cap increasing to $104 million, the Stars are only set to have a little over $11 million in cap space this summer, and have other players to try to retain. That list includes Michael Bunting, captain Jamie Benn, Mavrik Bourque, Arttu Hyry, Adam Erne, Nathan Bastian, Alexander Petrovic, Kyle Capobianco, and Vladislav Kolyachonok.
The three-time 40-goal scorer has been through a similar process with the Stars before, missing the start of the team’s 2022 training camp because of a contract dispute. Robertson notably also switched agents earlier this year, now represented by Octagon’s Andy Scott.
“It’s a business on both sides,” Robertson said earlier this week. “I’m optimistic, I hope. It’s not like what it was when I was 10 years old, getting to the NHL, anymore. It’s a business. I learned that four years ago. It’s not my first time.”
If the Stars do come to terms with the need to trade Robertson, they would likely have a lineup of teams interested in a deal. Given that the club’s primary issue seems to be salary-related, any potential return could likely lean more toward younger NHL players, prospects, and draft picks, which a team like the Washington Capitals could provide.
The Capitals and general manager Chris Patrick have made it clear that the team still seeks to make a big addition to their top-six forward group. The Caps have both the stockpiled prospects and draft picks for a trade, and the cap space to sign Robertson to a bigger contract than the Stars can offer. According to PuckPedia, the Caps are expected to have $36.6 million in open space ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
