Here is the July 23 edition of the NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X. Send your questions to @drosennhl and tag it with #OvertheBoards.

What is the likelihood that Jason Robertson is not a Star this season? And for teams who are interested could we see a sign and trade like Mitch Marner? — @punmasterrifkin

There have been plenty of rumors and discussion about Robertson’s future with the Dallas Stars. It obviously leads to speculation about the 26-year-old forward potentially being on the move before this season even begins. So, what’s the likelihood he is traded? Cop-out answer, but probably 50/50 at this point because it really depends on if the Stars and Robertson can or even want to try to get a new deal done sooner rather than later. Robertson has one season remaining on his contract at an average annual value of $7.75 million against the NHL salary cap and can become a restricted free agent after this season. He scored 35 goals last season. He has 151 goals the past four seasons, 14th in the NHL in that span. The Stars certainly are weighing a lot of factors because this isn’t a player you just up and trade. He’s too valuable, but at what point is the price too high?

If you’re looking at the short term, though it will be tight, Dallas can be cap compliant this season with Robertson’s cap charge on the books. Looking further out, the cap will go up $8.5 million to $104 million for the 2026-27 season, when Tyler Seguin‘s $9.85 AAV will be off the cap. Seguin could be re-signed, but likely to a contract with a much lower AAV, possibly similar to what the Stars did with forward Jamie Benn, who signed a one-year, $1 million contract June 26 that has the potential for an additional $3 million performance bonuses. Benn’s AAV was $9.5 million for the past eight seasons.

So, the Stars could make it work with Robertson depending on the financial terms of his next deal, but the roadblock could be defenseman Thomas Harley, who is also scheduled to become a restricted free agent after this season. Harley turns 24 on Aug. 19. If the Stars feel they have to choose between Harley and Robertson on who to re-sign, it’d be hard to argue against them choosing the rising star defenseman ahead of the 35-goal forward. But does it have to be a choice? What is Dallas sacrificing if it re-signs both? Those are the questions they’re asking themselves now.

If Robertson is traded, the Stars would benefit from working out something similar to the Marner deal with the Vegas Golden Knights. Permitting the team acquiring Robertson the opportunity to work out a contract with him before the trade should increase the return to Dallas. It’s also possible a team looking to acquire Robertson would be confident in its ability to eventually re-sign him that working out a deal right away isn’t required. That can backfire too (see Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes).

All this is to say that Robertson’s situation with Dallas is one of the more attractive storylines of the offseason.

Currently, the Panthers are $3.725 million over the salary cap (per Puckpedia). How do you expect Bill Zito to make the team cap compliant by the start of the season? Any validity to the rumors of an Evan Rodrigues trade or putting Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR? — @themoose0221

Rodrigues certainly is a trade candidate seeing that his contract has a reported $3 million AAV. There’s zero doubt here that teams already have, currently are, or soon will be inquiring about his availability. He’s a valuable, versatile, veteran player the Panthers do not take for granted. Unfortunately, losing him might be the price Florida has to pay for re-signing Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand and Tomas Nosek. The other side of that is Tkachuk and the potential for a stint on LTIR depending on his rehab and the potential for surgery to repair the injuries he played through. He said after Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final that he sustained a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia injury on the same side, and that the adductor muscle was torn from the bone. The Panthers will be cap compliant to start the season if Tkachuk has to start on LTIR, but that’s obviously not a long-term solution because he will be back at some point, and when he comes back they have to have the cap space to add him. But an LTIR stint for Tkachuk would allow Florida to punt the issue down the road a bit. The price for that is not having Tkachuk.

How do you think things shake out for Mike Matheson now that the Canadiens have added Noah Dobson and that Lane Hutson has emerged as a 1D? — @kavanyoung

There are factors at play for Matheson and the Montreal Canadiens, none that should matter right now since the 31-year-old defenseman is signed through this season and remains an integral part of the blue line even with Hutson’s emergence and the addition of Dobson. The Canadiens can get ahead of the situation with Matheson by signing him to a new contract. He can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Hutson will need a new contract after this season, too, and if he builds on his Calder Trophy-winning season it’ll be a mega deal, likely exceeding Dobson’s $9.5 million AAV. That plus forward Ivan Demidov being two years away from a potential mega deal could impact Montreal’s thinking with Matheson, who should be asking for more than his reported $4.875 million AAV in his next contract.

The Canadiens certainly appear to be building toward a future top four of lefties Hutson and Kaiden Guhle, and righties Dobson and David Reinbacher, a 20-year-old chosen with the No. 5 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Alexandre Carrier, a righty, is signed through the 2026-27 season. Jayden Struble, a 23-year-old lefty, is a restricted free agent. Arber Xhekaj, 24, a left-handed shot, can be a RFA after this season.

There’s no doubt Matheson is a big part of the Canadiens’ current group. They could make room for him to be a part of the future top six on defense, too, but they’ll have to weigh a lot of factors, including, perhaps most importantly, how Matheson is playing.

With the Islanders entering the season healthy, adding Maxim Shabanov and Jonathan Drouin into the top nine (most likely), do you think they can surprise some people? — @IslesCave

Yes. The pressure shouldn’t be too great on the Islanders, but the Metropolitan Division is wide open and making the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a realistic goal because of their forward depth and goaltending.

The Islanders added without subtracting on the back end. Bringing in Drouin and Shabanov, plus the return of a healthy Mathew Barzal, should give New York more of a dynamic element to the offense. Though it’s hard to know how Shabanov’s game will translate to the NHL, he did have 67 points (23 goals, 44 assists) in 65 games with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Kontinental Hockey League last season. He scored 67 goals in 207 KHL games the past three seasons and had 31 points in 36 KHL playoff games. Simon Holmstrom‘s game should continue to grow; he had 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists) in 75 games two seasons ago and followed it up with 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) in 75 games last season.

The area of concern is at defenseman, where the loss of Dobson looms large. Matthew Schaefer is obviously a wild card in all of this. If the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft can emerge as a viable, productive option this season, the Islanders will be much better off. But it is asking a lot of Schaefer, who turns 18 on Sept. 5, after he played only 17 Ontario Hockey League games last season because of injury. The Islanders must do what’s right for Schaefer’s development, even if it means not having his obvious skill on their back end this season.

Regardless, the Metropolitan Division allows for the Islanders to be playoff contenders this season. There is not one dominant team in the division. The Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets are all playoff contenders, but the Islanders are not far behind, and their goaltending might make them equal or ahead of some of those teams.