What will Jason Robertson’s next contract look like?
Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill has made massive strides in his quest to lock in a core of upper-echelon talent that will make his team a contender for the Stanley Cup for the long haul.
Within the past year, he’s gotten Mikko Rantanen, Thomas Harley, Wyatt Johnston and Esa Lindell signed to long-term contracts to form a formidable core on a team that’s already made three consecutive Western Conference Finals.
The last major piece of business hanging over Nill is the contract situation of star winger Jason Robertson, who is slated to be a restricted free agent after this season. Robertson has 35 points in 26 games played, and he’s emerged as the Stars’ most dangerous offensive option over the past month.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed Robertson’s increasing price tag and torrid start to the season as he looks to make the American Olympic squad.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Alright let’s do a little fill-in-the-blank… Just the absolute heater that Jason Robertson’s been on. Second in the NHL goals so far in this calendar year… and this is a Dallas front office that obviously paid big money to keep Mikko Rantanen around, gave him the $12 million AAV. And now Jason Robertson, I know he’s an RFA for one more year, but after next season he’s a UFA. You really don’t have the option to just go cheap, bridge-route here… Jason Robertson’s next AAV will be blank?
Carter Hutton: I’ve got to think it’s right around Mikko Rantanen’s number, right? This is a guy that you have to pay, and again you look at their cap space and where they’re at, they can get it done. It’s more going to be about their projection long term and what they see him being. Because my worry is if you don’t get him under that eight-year cap right now while you can, he takes maybe that small, two-or-three year window, and then god knows what you’re going to have to pay him because the cap is going up.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…