The Dallas Stars already had one big summer headache with Jason Robertson, and now the next one is coming into focus: keeping him in Dallas before he can hit the open market.
Robertson, the team’s leading scorer, ended up on a one-year, $12MM contract after requesting salary arbitration forced the issue. That deal kept him from going through the arbitration process, but it also set up a much bigger problem for the Stars down the road. With only a single season on the contract, Robertson is on track to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2027.
That is why general manager Jim Nill is already talking extension. In a recent interview with NHL Network, he said the club’s priority will be to get Robertson signed before that free-agency date arrives.
It’s easy to see why Dallas is treating this as a must-handle item. Robertson has been one of the league’s most reliable finishers, leading the Stars in goals in four of the last five seasons.
In that stretch, he has hit 40 goals three times and topped 100 points once. Since 2021, he has averaged 40 goals and 91 points per 82 games, a pace that ranks him 15th among NHL skaters over that span.
The challenge, of course, is that the market around him keeps getting louder. Cale Makar, who sits just ahead of Robertson in average points since 2021, recently signed an extension that will make him the first NHL player to earn more than $20MM per year.
Kirill Kaprizov has a deal paying $17MM annually, and Leon Draisaitl’s cap hit has climbed to $14MM. Robertson is clearly headed for a major raise whenever his next contract gets done.
Dallas, though, is trying to keep one eye on the long game and the other on its balance sheet. The Stars are already sitting at a $105.36MM cap hit, which is just over $1MM above the NHL’s current cap limit, according to PuckPedia. They also have future money coming due for Lian Bichsel and Tyler Seguin next summer, on top of whatever Robertson’s next deal looks like.
That leaves Nill and the Stars with a narrow path. Robertson will likely have to give up some salary upside if he wants more term in Dallas, while the team will have to find an offer that is both aggressive and manageable as the cap continues to rise. If they miss on that middle ground, Robertson would be positioned for a significant payday elsewhere.
For now, the clock is the story. Dallas has a few months in the 2026-27 season to work out something that makes sense for both sides, and Nill knows the risk that hangs over the entire process.
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