The Dallas Stars already made a massive move this offseason when they fired Pete DeBoer as head coach. The team has advanced to the Western Conference Final for three consecutive seasons, but they continue to fall short. There have been some terrible performances in those series, which is why it may be time for a shakeup in their core. However, putting Jason Robertson on the table isn’t something that people saw coming.
The Stars have put Robertson’s name out there, according to a report from Sportsnet 590, via Elliotte Friedman. The speculation arises as the Stars seek to create salary cap space to sign Mikael Granlund to a contract extension.
Dallas has to pay Matt Dumba and Ilya Lybushkin a combined $7 million next season, which could be enough to pay Granlund and keep Robertson. However, the trade market for those defensemen is slim, as the contracts don’t offer much value.
Dumba is the worst contract of the bunch, as he was a healthy scratch for the Stars’ entire playoff run, even when Miro Heiskanen missed the start of the postseason with an injury. Teams won’t be lining up to pay him $3.75 million to sit in the press box.
Nevertheless, it’d be an interesting move to move Robertson in favor of Granlund. Robertson is 25 with a career-high of 109 points in 2022-23 and 80 in each of the last two seasons. Granlund had just 67 points this past season and will be turning 34.
The Stars want to keep all their Finland-born players together, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of a point-per-game 25-year-old.
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