Eyebrows were raised when rumors surfaced after the Western Conference Final that Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson might be moved this summer.
He’s been one of the more productive players in the league the past four seasons and he’s only 25. Many teams that can afford his $7.75 million average annual value would be interested, including the Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings made many draft-day mistakes between 2015 and 2018, including selecting defenseman Gustav Lindstrom 38th overall in 2017, one pick before the Stars took Robertson, a product of the Little Caesars program.
The Stars are in a cap crunch with $4.9 million in space and only 16 players signed, according to puckpedia.com. They have some difficult decisions ahead, but it seems unlikely this Stanley Cup-contending team would part with a talented, young player like Robertson for futures, at least this offseason.
Perhaps they would be more inclined to not re-sign Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund, a pair of pending unrestricted free agents.
Duchene, in particular, would interest the Red Wings. He is a player they have pursued before. He’s 34 but coming off a productive regular season (30 goals, 52 assists in 82 games), though he struggled in the playoffs (one goal, five assists in 18 games). He would fill their second-line center slot for at least a couple of years.
The Red Wings have ample cap space ($21 million), and general manager Steve Yzerman feels urgency to make some big moves. He surely will pursue top free agents like Mitch Marner, Sam Bennett, Nicolaj Ehlers, Brock Boeser and Aaron Ekblad. But there will be a lot of competition for whichever of these players hits the market on July 1.
Yzerman might have to set his sights on the next tier, which includes Duchene and Granlund, 33, who can play center or wing.
Duchene was a tremendous value signing last summer, inking a one-year deal for $3 million with Dallas. He’ll cost more this time around.
Granlund, a midseason acquisition from San Jose, tallied 22 goals and 66 points, his highest totals since 2016-17 (26 goals) and 2017-18 (67 points). He earned $5 million last season.
The Stars are top-heavy with five players earning $8.4 million or more. Robertson will join that group next summer when he’s a restricted free agent, even though his scoring has dipped to 80 points in each of the past two seasons after career highs of 46 goals and 109 points in 2022=23.
Dallas and other clubs close to the ceiling will benefit from the cap rising again in 2026-27, by $8.5 million, and in 2027-28 by $9.5 million to $113.5 million.
If the Stars can’t agree on a long-term contract with Robertson next offseason, then they’ll surely look to move him.
If rumors are true that they’re open to trading him this summer, the Red Wings should and will pursue him aggressively. Their package likely would include the 13th overall pick this year and center prospect Nate Danielson, coming off his first pro season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
But, for now, Duchene probably is a more realistic target for the Red Wings.