The Ottawa Senators appear to be gearing up for another big move.
After dealing away star winger Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster trade on Sunday, the club is apparently right back to work on another massive trade. According to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, the Senators plan to use the assets they acquired from the Panthers, three first-round picks and one second-round pick, to pry Jason Robertson away from the Dallas Stars.
“Things are very fluid, and there’s plenty of time for Dallas to explore its options, but sources say Ottawa is making a big push for Jason Robertson,” Pagnotta tweeted Sunday evening. “If a trade cannot be ironed out and he hits July 1 as an RFA, the Senators could present him with a significant offer sheet.”
The last update on Robertson came earlier this month, when hockey insider Frank Seravalli said he believed the Stars and their star winger were still “quite a ways apart” in contract negotiations. Robertson is due for a substantial raise on the $7.75 million salary he has made in each of the past four seasons, but Dallas general manager Jim Nill appears hesitant to give him the pay increase he wants.
Robertson, recently named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team, could be seeking upwards of $14 million a year against the salary cap, and Nill reportedly has a salary red line of $12 million, which the team’s other star winger, Mikko Rantanen, is making through the 2032-33 campaign. The Stars want Robertson back at a much lower rate, more in line with the $10.6 million that defenseman Thomas Harley is set to earn starting next year.
The 26-year-old winger recorded 96 points (45g, 51a) in 82 games this past season, finishing 10th overall in league scoring. For comparison’s sake, the player who finished directly ahead of Robertson, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (97 points), is set to earn a league-high $14 million in salary next season.
If the Stars and Robertson can’t settle on a new contract, Dallas will have to consider trading their former second-round pick, and the Senators want to be at the front of the line of potential suitors. Ottawa now holds three first-round picks this year, including the ninth overall selection, three third-round picks this year, and two second-round picks next year.
Robertson, unlike Tkachuk, does not have any trade protection this summer, so he will not have much say in where the Stars end up trading him if they do pursue that route. As Pagnotta indicates, if the Stars do not choose to play ball with the trade market, teams could also try to lure Robertson away with an expensive offer sheet.
To sign Robertson away from Dallas with an offer sheet, a team will definitely need to rise above the $11,939,166 salary mark on his contract, which would cost them their first-round picks in four of the next five drafts (2027 onward) as compensation to the Stars.
