turned down a trade that would have sent him to Seattle<\/a> for a long time and a lot of money. He gets to stay, and he gets to negotiate another contract when the salary cap is $9.5 million higher \u2014 and when he\u2019ll be an unrestricted free agent, rather than a restricted one. Plus, both sides avoid the potentially fractious process of arbitration this summer. It\u2019s a modest win-win.<\/p>\nOf course, regardless of Texas\u2019 tax situation, Robertson signing for $12 million when we\u2019ve seen Leo Carlsson sign for $18 million and Connor Bedard sign for $15 million is borderline laughable. Robertson had his third 40-goal season in just six full NHL campaigns in 2025-26, posting 96 points. Even his two so-called down seasons before that saw him post 80 points each year. Robertson, one of the game\u2019s last true power forwards, is as reliable as they come. He also was Dallas\u2019 best player in the playoffs, scoring five goals in six games in the first-round loss to Minnesota (a series in which Rantanen was largely invisible at five-on-five). Despite all the slings and arrows he took leading up to his Olympic snub, about how one-dimensional he supposedly is, Robertson is actually a quite competent defender and has the underlying numbers to back it up. This is an elite player in his prime, and he\u2019s grossly underpaid. Just not for long.<\/p>\n
Is it possible Robertson founders this season and ends up having to settle for less on his next deal than he could have gotten coming off a monster season? Sure, but his style of play \u2014 knocking in greasy goals from the goalmouth \u2014 is largely slump-proof. Or, at least, disaster-proof. And he\u2019s betting on himself, giving himself a crack at entering unrestricted free agency while still in his mid-20s, something few high-end players truly get to do. It\u2019s a good bet, one that more players should be taking at his age.<\/p>\n
So the band stays together for at least one more year. It\u2019s far from ideal for either side, but both get what they want for now \u2014 Jason Robertson, wearing Victory Green, parking himself in front of the opposing net and burying pucks. They can worry about the future in the future. In Dallas, the time is always now.<\/p>\n
Contract grade: B<\/p>\n
Shayna Goldman: A $12 million price tag, in a vacuum, is great value for Robertson for the 2026-27 season, especially after he leveled up to franchise-caliber last year. His defense was solid, his playmaking supported the Stars\u2019 attack, and most importantly, his shot was extremely effective. When the team needed more at five-on-five, Robertson delivered, despite so many injuries and absences around him throughout the season. And that was true in the playoffs, where he was unquestionably one of the team\u2019s most reliable producers.<\/p>\n
It couldn\u2019t have happened at a better time for Robertson, ahead of his contract expiring. In theory, it should have helped the Stars too, because his level of play, from the start of the season through Round 1, should have answered any questions about his consistency or big-game play.<\/p>\n
In theory, it should have given the Stars the confidence to give Robertson the bag \u2014 even if it meant signing him to a splashier contract than Rantanen\u2019s eight-year contract carrying a $12 million cap hit. Keep in mind that contract took up 12.6 percent of the cap in Year 1; with a $104 million cap, that\u2019s equivalent to $13.1 million. Under a projected $113.5 million salary cap in 2027-28, that shakes out to $14.3 million.<\/p>\n
Instead, the outcome is a one-year deal that \u2026 opens itself up to more negotiations and potential trades over the next year.<\/p>\n
A one-year deal isn\u2019t the worst-case scenario because Dallas gets another shot with one of its best players in the fold. Plus, Tyler Seguin\u2019s expiring contract and the increasing cap could buy the Stars the flexibility they need to sign a long-term deal ahead of July 1 next year.<\/p>\n
And if things aren\u2019t working out by March, Dallas can always sell Robertson to the highest bidder at the deadline and try to reset. Just look at what the Hurricanes gained from the Rantanen trade to the Stars.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s far from the best-case scenario, either. Because now this team is at risk of losing its best player for nothing if he walks as a free agent. And if the Stars don\u2019t have a championship by then, they\u2019ll be a team that\u2019s a year older and under even more pressure to go the distance.<\/p>\n
Contract grade: B-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The contract Dallas Stars sign Jason Robertson to a one-year contract with a $12 million cap hit. Mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,1115,2484],"class_list":["post-381973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-stars","tag-nhl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}