Stars’ Focus Is On Re-Signing Jason Robertson

The Dallas Stars’ summer will be headlined by a difficult cap crunch. With only $11.11MM in projected cap space, Dallas must decide how to re-sign nine pending free agents. That includes star winger Jason Robertson coming off a 96-point season. Robertson’s extension will be a top priority and is something Stars general manager Jim Nill wants done sooner rather than later, he told Dallas News’ Lia Assimakopoulos. Nill added that he hopes Robertson can be a Star for the rest of his career.

Robertson played in every game of the four-year, $31MM contract he signed with Dallas in 2022. The contract spanned his break into the top echelon of NHL scorers. He had a career-year in the first season of his deal, reaching 46 goals and 109 points. That was 40 points more than he managed in the 2021-22 season, a jump that led many to wonder if the century-scoring was merely a lucky fluke. Those concerns grew louder as Robertson continued to thrive in a loaded Dallas top-six, but only reached 80 points, in each of the next two seasons.

It seemed the century mark would indeed stay out of reach, until Robertson showed his ability to chase the mark this season. He fell four points short – but did find his way onto a formidable top-line next to Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen, who ranked second and third on the Stars in scoring behind Robertson. The space that Rantanen’s addition, and Johnston’s breakout, lended Robertson helped the sharpshooter pace for 100-points for most of the season. He is near the peak of his career at 26 years old and, should he find a long-term deal in Dallas, could have at least a few more seasons of 100-point potential next to Johnston and Rantanen.

That will be the impact Dallas hopes to bring back this summer. Rantanen will offer a strong baseline for Robertson’s negotiations after signing an eight-year, $96MM contract with Dallas last year. The Stars will need to find a way to shed some cap to fit another contract of that size under their cap. Finding a way to move defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin would net the Stars $3.25MM in cap space. Lyubushkin hasn’t managed to clinch a role in the Stars’ roster over the last two seasons. He has played with five teams across his eight-year career in the NHL and could garner the interest of one of the league’s rebuilders, like the Vancouver Canucks or Chicago Blackhawks. Dallas would need to include a rich premium to move that much cap space before July 1st – but nearly any price would be worthwhile to bring back a scorer like Robertson.

The upside and reliability that Robertson has offered the Stars is invaluable. If he secures a long-term deal, Dallas will have their star-studded top-line signed through the next five years, at least. That will be incredible, year-over-year security as the team faces the retirement of veterans like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Matt Duchene. With so much value riding on Robertson’s contract negotiations, it’s no wonder why Dallas wants it to be the first order of business.