Jason Robertson absent from Stars training camp as contract negotiations hit a snag

As NHL teams launch their 2022-23 training camps this week, one absence is particularly noticeable: that of Dallas Stars left winger Jason Robertson.

Robertson, 23, has not reported to camp because he remains unsigned as a restricted free agent and contract talks with the Stars have stalled, according to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. General manager Jim Nill said the negotiations have been cordial and that the Stars are open to a long-term deal or a bridge deal, but the sides are still working through some differences, Yousuf reported.

Robertson is the cornerstone of the Stars forward corps for the foreseeable future. He tallied 45 points in 51 games as a rookie in 2020-21, finishing second in the Calder Trophy vote to Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov. Robertson followed that up with a sensational 2021-22 in which he had 41 goals and 79 points in 74 games and led the NHL in game-winning goals with 11. He finished 14^th among all players (min. 1,000 minutes played) in points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.

That means, of course, Robertson is due for a massive pay day. The Stars are expected to have about $7 million to $8 million in cap space to use in a Robertson extension, according to Yousuf, but that doesn’t put them in position to lock up Robertson long term — not when teams are changing their philosophy to pay their stars big money coming off their entry-level deals. If the Ottawa Senators’ Tim Stutzle can earn a contract paying him more than $8 million per season, Robertson, who has superior numbers thus far in his career, would theoretically be worth more on a long-term pact. That means the Stars will either have to aim for a bridge deal of two or three seasons or find a way to clear enough cap space to land Robertson long term at an average annual value worthy of his production to date.