Stars set for cap troubles with Jason Robertson’s contract

The Dallas Stars were eliminated in the first-round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday night, losing in six games to the Minnesota Wild. It’s a disappointing end to a Stars’ season that saw the NHL’s lone Texas franchise go 50-20-12 with 112 points, the third-best regular-season record in the league.

Jason Robertson led the Stars with five goals and eight points through six games, averaging more than 23 minutes per night. His impressive playoff performance capped off a 2025-26 season that saw him score 45 goals and record 51 assists for 96 points.

But Robertson’s four-year, $31-million contract is expiring after the season, meaning he will be a restricted free agent. Will Dallas be willing to sign one of the league’s most prolific forwards to a long-term deal? Or will Stars’ management see this as an opportunity to gain assets?

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Stars’ first-round loss and what the future holds for Robertson.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The thing with Robertson … if you’re going to pay him, you need to move out money elsewhere. Why wouldn’t he just take the qualifying offer, score another 40 goals next year then walk yourself to unrestricted free agency?

The risk with that is you get hurt, you have a bad year, your value diminishes … but if the Stars sit there and give him the qualifying offer, and Robertson goes “Sure I’ll play on it, then I’m going to UFA.”

If you’re Dallas, you have to trade him this summer. You can’t just be “Sure, play on that cheap deal one more year, then walk to UFA.” This is either going to be a seven-year deal, or he’s traded. I just don’t see how there’s any other outcome with Robertson and the Stars.

If the Stars reluctantly gave him money last time … look, there’s only been five more players who have scored more goals than Robertson in the last two years. He’s going to deserve $13, $14 million on a long-term deal, especially when you consider his age.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…