The Stars, known for running a rather tight ship with few leaks, ended up in headlines more than most teams with reports that the Stars and Robertson wouldn’t budge on their respective numbers and that the team even tried to orchestrate a few trades to remedy the situation.
The Stars successfully traded Mavrik Bourque and Ilya Lyubushkin to Nashville because they couldn’t afford to keep the young forward with the raise Robertson was expected to earn. They tried to trade Robertson to Seattle before he nixed the deal by declining to sign what was reported to be an eight-year deal worth at least $15 million annually with the Kraken. They also reportedly tried to trade Thomas Harley to Columbus for Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski.
But Stars GM Jim Nill said he doesn’t anticipate it to be a problem when the players arrive for training camp in September.
“I’ve found, in the past, players in their moment are very invested in it, but when it’s somebody else, they’re supporting that player, and they understand the circumstances because they’ve been through it themselves,” he said. “They understand the situation. Players have been talking to Jason. It’s not a situation coming into the dressing room. We don’t have to worry about that.”
Several reports suggested that tension had grown between Robertson, the Stars and his teammates during his negotiations. The forward addressed those rumors Wednesday.
“Not everything on the Internet is real. People do things to try to grab attention or whatnot. All the things that matter is the opinions of people around me — obviously, the organization, my agency, my friends and everything else is kind of just nothing really,” Robertson said. “[My teammates] respect [my] privacy and what [I’m] going through. During the summer, it’s a little easier to zone out and be private. Everyone knows it’s a business.”
It’s expected the Stars and Robertson would say all is fine in the locker room, whether it’s true or not. Only time — and the product on the ice starting in October — will really tell.