It's an offseason of questions for the Stars, including the future of Stars captain Jamie Benn. While Jim Nill has that to figure out, there's another elephant in the room with star forward Jason Robertson. The California native is coming off one of his best seasons, with 45 goals, 51 assists and 96 points. He's now a restricted free agent this offseason.
The market value for Robertson is as high as it will ever be for him, and it's time for the Stars to pay him everything he's worth, or risk losing him forever, as he just finished his last year on a four-year, $31 million contract with an average annual value of $7.75 million.
Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News appeared on All-City DLLS to discuss Robertson's contract saga with the Stars. Robertson has a lot of leverage to get paid his worth, but the majority of those teams aren't playoff contenders compared to Dallas. Assimakopoulos also brought up an interesting nugget that doesn't favor the Stars in the Robertson sweepstakes.
"It's the teams that can pay Jason Robertson are the ones that are further from winning. I think that also comes down to the player. What's more important to you? Does he just want to make $15 million? If he does, good for you...If it is really about winning a Stanley Cup, there's a limited number of places you can go."
Jason Robertson has more options to leave than the Stars have to try to keep him
Assimakopoulos added that $12 million a year is a fair amount for the star forward, but it wouldn't be out of the picture if Robertson asked for more. Mikko Rantanen is making that same amount a year, so that's the pitch that Nill would have to start with, at least.
Shayna Goldman of The Athletic (subscription required) shows that Robertson is playing well beyond his market value. The projected market value for Robertson is around $15.7 million over the next eight seasons.
If the Stars have been a team of hometown discounts, that surely won't be applied here for Robertson. He's coming off one of his best seasons at the perfect time, the end of his current contract, and the prime of his career.
Robertson has always been a humble guy, and money probably isn't all that he's thinking about, but he will be thinking about getting paid what he's worth. Stars fans would agree that he should get every cent he asks for, but that might come from a rebuilding team rather than a contender like the Stars.
The Stars usually don't have dramatic offseasons, as Nill has always prioritized building the team the right way. Now, Robertson's contract has officially caught up with them, and there's no telling what will happen.
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