The Stars could really lose Jason Robertson, and here's why

The Dallas Stars really got 96 points out of Jason Robertson in the 2025-26 season, and they really could lose him before next season.

It's just a tough reality being faced right now by the Stars as rumors start to swirl that the Ottawa Senators are after Robertson.

The first thing to note is that Robertson is a restricted free agent. The Senators could choose to try and sign-and-trade for his rights before free agency opens on July 1. But if he makes it to free agency, Ottawa could give him a huge offer sheet that's tough for Dallas to match. 

And that's the thing -- the Stars will have a tough time matching.

Cap space is not on the side of Dallas right now.

"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 earlier in June. "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."

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So the math there is actually quite simple. Pagnotta writes that Robertson is worth $12 million per season, and that the Stars only have $11 million in cap space to begin with.

What are they to do? Either they rearrange things quite substantially to make room for Robertson, or they get rid of him. If he's leaving anyway, negotiating a sign-and-trade is logical, much like the Maple Leafs did last offseason with Mitch Marner.

The Stars have watched Robertson grow into a superstar, but they might not be able to reap all the rewards.

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