One of the NHL's most intriguing contract situations heading into the off-season involves Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson, and according to veteran hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, it may not be as straightforward as many assume.
Speaking on the DMase, Vingan and Daunic podcast this past week, Friedman offered a candid assessment of where negotiations could be headed. "I think Jason Robertson's gonna be an interesting one," Friedman said.
"I think the Stars will have a line and I'm not convinced they'll be willing to go past that line, around Mikko Rantanen's number."
That number sits at $12 million per season, a figure that would make Robertson one of the highest-paid forwards in the game but one that Dallas appears reluctant to exceed.
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The 26-year-old has done everything in his power to command top dollar. Robertson is coming off one of the most productive seasons of his career, posting 45 goals and 51 assists for 96 points across all 82 games, firmly establishing himself as one of the premier offensive players in the league and a cornerstone of the Stars' attack.
The complication lies not in Robertson's value but in Dallas' financial reality. The Stars currently have roughly $65.99 million of their $95.5 million salary cap committed to just seven core players, a group that already includes Rantanen, Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, Wyatt Johnston and goaltender Jake Oettinger.
Fitting a Robertson extension in the range Friedman is projecting would leave the organization with very little room to build out the rest of their roster. How Dallas navigates that tension between rewarding one of their best players and maintaining the flexibility needed to compete will be one of the more compelling storylines of the summer.
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