Jason Robertson is worth $12 million, but the Stars only have $11 million to spend, so now what?

The Dallas Stars don't have much salary cap space to work with this offseason.

As it stands, they may not even have the money needed to retain Jason Robertson.

Dallas isn't really in position to be letting the star forward leave anytime soon, though, and so moves will have to be made.

MORE: Sabres' story of this season is about all the chapters along the way

What can Dallas do?

The Stars are likely going to have to make trades to reduce salary hits from elsewhere to make more room for Robertson.

"A lot of teams want to see what happens in Dallas with Jason Robertson, who would command over $12 million per season elsewhere," NHL insider David Pagnotta wrote as part of a new article on Monday. "With $11M in cap space, the Stars are going to have to be creative here and likely move out at least one body. Defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin ($3.25M AAV) was being dangled before the deadline and GM Jim Nill may explore the possibility again."

The tricky part here, of course, is that even if one move is enough to pay Robertson, it may not be enough to grow the entire rest of the roster. The Stars are up against it still.

Dallas could have to get creative and reimagine a lot of its structure this offseason. Robertson is the kind of guy you build around.

But with players that aren't obvious building blocks, there will be plenty of speculation. Movement is coming with the Stars, but just how much is something the hockey world will have to wait and see.

MORE: Alex Newhook is the Canadiens' hero no one ever expected