- Stars and Jason Robertson reportedly stuck on contract terms ahead of July 1 RFA deadline
- Jeff Marek says Dallas’s offer sits closer to Thomas Harley’s deal than Mikko Rantanen’s
- Read below for what Robertson said about the “dark sides” of his future in Dallas
The Jason Robertson contract saga in Dallas isn’t getting any quieter, and the player himself isn’t helping it slow down.
Asked about his future after the Stars’ Game 7 loss to the Wild, Robertson gave reporters something to chew on.
“When anyone thinks of top teams in the NHL, they think of Dallas. So it’s been great. It’s been great being a part of that for so long, and you get so used to it, so you don’t really understand the dark sides of hockey not being at that peak.”
Past tense from a guy whose camp is staring down a contract impasse is rarely a coincidence.
Hockey insider Jeff Marek dug into the standoff on Monday’s DFO Rundown, and his read on it was direct:
“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. “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.”
Marek pointed to Mikko Rantanen’s $12 million ceiling at the top of the range, with Harley’s $10.6 million sitting as the floor. Stars GM Jim Nill apparently has no interest in pushing past the Harley number for a winger Dallas worries about long-term as a skater.
“Either we have a deal, or we have a trade,” Marek said.
Robertson becomes a restricted free agent on July 1. He has arbitration rights, which gives him real leverage if Nill drags his feet. Marek even floated a Mitch Marner-style scenario where Robertson takes a one-year award and walks the next summer.
The 26-year-old just put up 96 points (45g, 51a) in 82 games this season. He then led the Stars in playoff scoring before Dallas got bounced by the Wild in Round 1, with a six-game playoff goal streak that’s a franchise record:
Dallas is working with around $11 million in cap room this summer, even with the salary cap jumping to a record $104 million, and a list of pending free agents that includes Jamie Benn, Mavrik Bourque, and Michael Bunting. There isn’t a clean path to keeping everyone, especially if Robertson holds firm on a Rantanen-level number.
Summer’s going to move fast in Dallas.
