The lead up to settling Jason Robertson's salary will be interesting to follow
The Chris Johnston Show: Johnston and Julian McKenzie talk about players filing for salary waivers, especially Jason Robertson, and how that situation could play out.
** NHLRumors.com transcript
McKenzie: “To your point about the free agent market going quietly, I think there was, there was a lot of buzz around players who filed for arbitration in the last few days, including Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars. A few other notable names, too: Kirby Dach, from the Montreal Canadiens is there. Jet Greaves from Columbus. A long list of Winslepeg is on the Winslepeg list. NHLPA web, Trevor Zegras from Philadelphia You need to mention a long list of players.
Johnston: “Yeah, it puts a clock on those players. These guys are actually ineligible because they applied for compensation on the offer sheets. So you know Robertson's situation, I think, is more prominent than the players you mentioned.
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You know you are in an interesting place. He is one year away from being a UFA, but still has the restricted free agent season to sign. If he and the Stars end up going through that arbitration case, he knows he'll be handed a free pass. But he's also going to have a season here where he doesn't have trade protection. There the stars will be able to continue to list in his trade. You know, there's still a country where they sign long-term extensions between now and the hearing date, whenever there's a suspension, because that's kind of what happens in the system.
So in the end, Dallas will have kind of a final decision to make before that arbitration, in my opinion. In your opinion, do you know if they are going to sign the agreement, they just bite the bullet and do that? Or if they go through arbitration, you know, effectively, they'll play him in free agency next July, or they'll probably look to trade him at some point during the year. So, it's kind of a tough, tough set of circumstances.
But look, that's, you know, a number of those situations, I think players and teams don't like to go through those arbitration cases. You know, you have to drill holes on each side. You know, point out the player's shortcomings in trying to get the arbiter to go along with him, when you think the contract should be there, you know. So generally these, this just kind of, you know, sets the wheels in motion to get those next contracts done.
But in Robertson's case, I don't think so. I honestly believe it's probably better that he gets a one-year award. It's probably going to be a pretty good sum of money, and he's on the verge of becoming a free agent next summer.
So we already know that the Stars tried to trade him and couldn't, making that trade with Seattle also not signing a long-term extension. So you know, that's going to be an interesting arbitration case if it happens.
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McKenzie: “I'm not saying I want it to get to the point where Jason Robertson goes to free agency, but Jason Robertson's free agency sweepstakes next summer is a lot better than anything we've heard about free agents this year. Especially considering what the class was supposed to look like, maybe a year or two ago, and we're losing names, we need good names. agent board, CJ. We need that.
Johnston: “Well, you, you've limited free agents to focus on now as well, with the offer sheet thing in play. I mean, you know, the interesting thing about Robertson's situation is the sense that he doesn't want to leave Dallas. Like all kinds of tactics that go on here, you know, he's obviously trying to get what he thinks is a fair price for his services.
But you know, I don't think he ultimately wants to be anywhere but the Stars. So you know I'll be interested to see if they can get it together again, and maybe finally agree to some kind of contract that works. He knows he's in a weird spot too because he's ineligible, ineligible, ineligible for trade protection this coming season.
So if he signs a big-money extension, I mean, you know, there's still a year where the Stars could trade him. So it's just like you're like one of these players. You are caught between all of these. this power. Obviously, he is one of the top scorers in the league over the years. He knows that he has special offensive gifts, and he will be paid, but it is not clear where and when and how yet.
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And you know, you're right. If he does go through the arbitration process, that will be another kind of time where he and the Stars are at the table against each other. Well, not really seeing the world the same way. And then you know what's in store for him next season if he gets a one-year award in terms of his relationship with the club. How much are they looking forward to trade him or not, then he finally becomes a UFA on July 1, 2027.
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