Dallas Stars looking to move $3.25m D-Man to make room for Jason Robertson

The Dallas Stars have a franchise winger to re-sign and a cap sheet that does not have room to do it cleanly. 

Jason Robertson, the team’s leading goal scorer and a pending restricted free agent, needs a contract extension this summer.  His new deal is expected to cost over $12 million per year, matching recent market-setting extensions like Mikko Rantanen's. 

But according to PuckPedia, Dallas has $10.14 million in salary cap space for the 2026-27 season. To fit this salary under the cap, General Manager Jim Nill must clear money and trading defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin seems like the easiest move. 

Earlier this offseason, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period mentioned on the Hello Hockey podcast that Dallas tried to clear salary near the trade deadline and would likely look to move Lyubushkin. Frank Seravalli of Frankly Hockey now reports that the Stars are actively shopping the defenseman.

Trading him actually makes sense for Dallas. His regular-season appearances dropped from 80 games in his first year with the Stars to just 53 games last season. Paying $3.25 million for a limited, depth role is no longer justifiable.

Lyubushkin is entering the final season of the three-year contract he signed in 2024. The Stars can afford to lose him because they still have Miro Heiskanen, Nils Lundkvist, and Thomas Harley on defense. If Dallas needs extra depth, they can re-sign Alexander Petrovic for a much lower price.

"The simplest and most impactful move would be trading Lyubushkin," analyst Nick Assimakopoulos wrote for Yahoo Sports. "Simply put, the Stars aren't using him enough to make his $3.25M contract worth it."

The 2026 NHL Draft takes place on June 26–27. Stars GM's Jim Nill's window to clear salary cap space is open right now.

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