Five Days Later: Notes on Jason Robertson, the Stars, and the NHL's Summer Market

Plus some thoughts on Dylan Larkin's value after the offer sheet in Anaheim.

Happy Monday.

I did my best “Early July Canadian Hockey Writer,” impression last week and took the family to the lake last week after some of the dust settled on July 1.

It wasn’t Canada, we were up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but it was a pretty good opportunity to get away for a bit, re-charge, and only think about hockey a little bit while driving through the forest.

So this morning I scribbled down some notes/thoughts on what’s happened in the past five days. Some of this is already out there, I’m sure, maybe all of it is, but it’s worth compiling in one place.

Jason Robertson has filed for arbitration, which as I posted on Substack Notes (does anyone read those?) and other social media platforms, leads to three quick observations from me.

1. This filing fits with what’s been his goal, to stay in Dallas but be paid closer to $14 million
2. This isn’t going to end anytime soon
3. Other players being miffed doesn’t track with some I’ve spoke too. Players get its a business

Let me expand a bit on each.

On the first note, as I’ve written multiple times, Jason Robertson from my understanding wants to stay in Dallas and he wants to be the highest paid player on the team, like someone that scores more than 100 points per season, which he is.

He turned down the Seattle offer for this reason, and while I’ve yet to get confirmation I truly trust on the St. Louis discussion, Robertson, long-term, isn’t really interested in anywhere other than Dallas at this moment.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, perhaps, could change his tune on that, especially after trading for his brother, but Robertson partially closed the path to other teams when he filed for arbitration.

And that’s why this isn’t really going to end anytime soon, and with some other signings in the books, Stars GM Jim Nill is willing to be way more patent than you and I. So is Robertson, while the outside world wants conclusion, the player and the GM seem content and OK with the fact that they have September to figure this out.

I don’t think that’s true for Stars owner Tom Gaglardi, who has gotten slightly better at hiding his public frustrations, but still is letting it be known through back channels that the Stars aren’t happy with Robertson. From a media literacy perspective, I ask you this, “who does it benefit if it looks like the Stars or their players are upset with Robertson?”

And to that matter, I’m sure some players are a little bit upset with things, Mavrik Bourque had some friends on the team, but from my conversations there’s also a pretty healthy understanding that Bourque was never going to get the type of money he got from Nashville to remain in Dallas.

Here’s another way to look at it, players tend to like money, and while they’ve gotten pretty good at saying, “I have an agent for that,” the reality is that Robertson signing for his market value is good for the rest of the NHLPA.

Esa Lindell, for example, told me directly that one of the reasons he pushed for more of his value on a contract negotiation was because he took John Klingberg’s advice to heart about realizing this is and always will be a business for the teams.

On the “hockey is a business” note, the Leo Carlsson signed offer sheet and the Anaheim Ducks pending decision to match the Philadelphia Flyers or not feels like it just juiced up Dylan Larkin’s value.

Larkin was already a highly-desirable asset as a top-six center making $8.7 million per season, but with the rising cap and the Carlsson deal, that cap hit for five more season became even more valuable. Now whether that means he’s more valuable to the Red Wings or more valuable as a trade asset is fascinating, but it feels like this is just another reason to see Steve Yzerman dig in his heels and be more patient than anyone else would like him to be.

That’s what I’m thinking about/got this morning. Thanks for reading and more importantly, hope everyone had a great holiday weekend, it means a ton to me that we’ve got a reader base here that understands/accepts some breaks in coverage so I can connect with the family.