Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with Steve Kouleas and Craig Button and was asked about Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars. Specifically, has the market determined that Robertson should be paid in the $14 million range?
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
July 1st is Nearing for the Dallas Stars and Jason Robertson to Figure an Extension Out
Craig Button: “So, let me ask you this, just a little bit about Jason Robertson, and you mentioned the $14 million number. Is this akin to what happened in Winnipeg? (Mark) Scheifele and (Connor) Hellebuyck sign those big contracts, the market changes, Kyle Connor signs for $12 million. Is that something where that’s the reality, and Dallas just doesn’t want to face that reality?”
Dave Pagnotta: “I mean, it could be, it could be. I mean, this is like, it’s tough, you look at the situation in Dallas, and Dallas considers themselves, obviously a year-by-year contender. Annual contender. You got to tweak a few things to get over the hump kind of thing, which was what obviously some other teams have done.
But I think they look at this and go, as much as we want to be competitive, and we want to continue to chase the Stanley Cup, we’ve got to give ourselves a little bit of flexibility as the season moves on here.
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As much as they love Jason Robertson, and the priority is to keep him to get to a number as significant as say $14 million, it really puts them in a tough position for the rest of the season. Not necessarily moving forward, because we know where the cap is going to go in a year from now, but it puts them in a bit of a rough spot.
Now, there are other teams certainly looking around and lurking, you know, what $14-$15 million, Ottawa, others, Seattle (an offer refused), we’re prepared to offer that up and cough up the draft picks if we need to.
So, Dallas is certainly evaluating things. I think they want to get and this is another scenario, guys, where I think it’s we got to figure something out here by the weekend, or at the very least, by the end of the weekend, before really determining what alternative options we have to go in here. Because of all the activity, because of all the talk going on, this might be the opportunity where, if we can’t find middle ground, and it certainly does not look like he’s taken $12 million. Then we have to explore alternative options.
It’s kind of the nature of the beast here, with how things go. And with those contracts you mentioned with Hellebuyck and Scheifele, and whatnot. You get your bank, you walk in, but I think there’s also an understanding that if the team is not going to be competitive. If we’re not going to be able to get over the hump, then we’ll explore the possibility of trading it. Which I think is more geared towards Hellebuyk right now than it is Scheifele.”
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NHLRumors.com Note: We know Jason Robertson has rejected two, if not three, offers from other teams, plus the Dallas Stars offer of $12 million. Does Dallas say to teams trading for him, “Good luck, do the deal, and don’t allow him to talk to them”? That is an option now.
We know the Dallas Stars don’t want to go past Mikko Rantanen‘s $12 million AAV. They might have to if they want to keep a homegrown talent. With the Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Mammoth, and Columbus Blue Jackets all in the mix for his services, Robertson wants to go to a place where he thinks he can win after experiencing success in Dallas.
Again, the market was set by Adrian Kempe, Kyle Connor, Pavel Dorofeyev, Alex Tuch, Martin Necas, and, of course, Leon Draisaitl. Has Robertson been slighted by the fact that the Stars chose Rantanen over him as the highest-paid player on the team? That could be a possibility. But the 40-goal scorer is coveted around the league.
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