Stars Have Secret Weapon in Jason Robertson Negotiations

The Dallas Stars are one several NHL teams facing a huge contract negotiation. Scoring winger Jason Robertson enters the 2025-2026 campaign playing in the final year of a four-year contract that pays him an average annual salary of $7.75 million. Over the course of this deal, he's emerged as one of the top forwards in the organization, and he's in line for a raise and a long-term commitment when this current contract expires. With the Stars facing limited salary cap space moving forward, there is rising concern that they will not be able to agree to terms with Robertson.

The Stars are in a tight financial spot, but there’s a chance that the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is Dallas’ secret weapon in these negotiations.

Not Your Grandpa’s NHL

The new CBA addressed several major issues in the NHL, but one of the biggest products of these negotiations is a rapidly rising salary cap. Gone are the days when organizations were handcuffed by conservative salary cap ceilings. In its place is a reflection of the NHL’s revenue jump in the post-COVID-19 era, with the salary cap set to sky rocket nearly $10 million each of the next two seasons.

That is the perfect scenario for the Stars, who need every cent of salary cap space they can get their hands on. With the cap limit set to be roughly $104 million in 2026-2027 and then jump once again to $113 million for the 2027-2028 campaign, the increases are proportional to a championship contending team’s growing financial needs.

What that means is that Robertson’s future in Dallas might not be in doubt.