Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen both cracked NHL Network’s top 20 wings ranking. They did so again ahead of the 2025-26 season, but the difference is they’re teammates these days.
With the Dallas Stars’ stunning trade deadline acquisition of Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes, they supercharged their offense by adding an elite wing like Rantanen to a roster that already had a star like Robertson.
Rantanen proved his status as a superstar during the Stars’ third-straight trip to the Western Conference finals and validated the hefty price Jim Nill paid to acquire him in the deal with Carolina.
In last summer’s ranking, Robertson checked in at No. 6 while Rantanen checked in at No. 3. This summer, Robertson slots in at No. 16 and Rantanen slots in at No. 4.
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While Rantanen is locked into a $96 million deal that keeps him with the Stars for the next eight seasons, questions remain about Robertson’s long-term future in Dallas.
Robertson is entering the final year of his contract in 2025-26 and is set to cash in with a massive contract, whether it comes from the Stars or another team. While the Stars would love to keep Robertson around too, the salary cap has complicated matters and there was speculation Dallas could trade him this summer rather than lose him in free agency next summer.
However, a person familiar with the Stars’ thinking told The Dallas Morning News that the reports of a possible trade are “completely overblown” and the team would need to be blown away by an offer to consider trading Robertson.
Plus, Robertson is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next offseason, meaning the Stars can make a qualifying offer. Given all of this, it has become more likely that Robertson remains teammates with Rantanen this season.
Read what NHL Network wrote about the Stars’ pair of elite wings below.
Jason Robertson
“Robertson led the Stars with 35 goals last season and was second with 45 assists and 80 points while playing all 82 games for the third straight season. It’s the third time in four seasons he has scored at least 35 goals, and his 151 goals during that span are 14th among NHL forwards. The 26-year-old left wing also is the youngest of the 12 NHL players with three straight 80-point seasons.”
Mikko Rantanen
“Rantanen had 88 points (32 goals, 56 assists) in 82 games with the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and the Stars, where he had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 20 games after being traded there March 7, and then signing an eight-year contract that begins this season. He made his biggest impact during the playoffs, leading the Stars in goals (nine), assists (13) and points (22) in 18 games. That includes three goals and an assist in the third period of the Stars’ come-from-behind 4-2 win against the Avalanche in Game 7 of the first round and then a natural hat trick in the second period of Dallas’ 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of the second round. He is the first player ever with multiple three-goal periods in same playoff season.”
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.