FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Jason Robertson remained an unsigned restricted free agent Wednesday, days after the Dallas Stars had a deal in place to trade their high-scoring homegrown forward that they still hope to keep.
General manager Jim Nill said on the first day of NHL free agency that the goal still was to sign Robertson, and that he remained in contact with the forward's representatives.
“Really no update on Jason,” Nill said. “I think everybody needs
to understand that this is July 1. The games don't start until September, and this is part of the contract negotiations.”
Nill had acknowledged last Saturday after the conclusion of the NHL draft that the Stars had a sign-and-trade deal in place to send Robertson to Seattle for the seventh overall pick. While Robertson couldn’t veto that trade, he wouldn’t agree to a long-term deal with the Kraken — a reported $120 million over eight years ($15 million a season).
The highest-paid Stars player is forward Mikko Rantanen, who just completed the first season of the $96 million, eight-year extension ($12 million a season) he signed to facilitate the deadline trade that brought him to Dallas from Carolina in March 2025.
Robertson, who turns 27 on July 22, just finished a $31 million, four-year deal he got in 2022.
Dallas made a qualifying offer to Robertson before free agency opened, and would have the opportunity to match any offers made by other teams. If not matched, the Stars could get draft-pick compensation, four first-round selections for a qualifying offer of at least $11,939,167.
Another possibility could be Robertson or the Stars filing for salary arbitration to determine a 2026-27 contract before he could become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The arbitration filing deadline is Saturday.
“I don't really know,” Nill responded when asked if he thought that could happen. "I really can't answer that. I don't know what they're thinking, and we're working through those things."
The Stars drafted Robertson 39th overall in the second round of the 2017 draft. He has 490 points (213 goals and 277 assists) in 456 regular-season games since his NHL debut in February 2020.
Robertson was coming off a 41-goal season the last time he became a restricted free agent. He missed most of training camp in a contract holdout before signing, then had a 109-point season (46 goals and 63 assists) in 2022-23.
He played all 328 regular-season games the past four seasons, scoring 365 points (155 goals and 210 assists) in that span. He was Dallas' top scorer with 96 points last season, with 45 goals for his third 40-goal season.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
