The Dallas Stars are circling back to teams that had shown interest in Jason Robertson after the winger rejected a contract offer from the Seattle Kraken, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.
LeBrun adds that the team is still keeping dialogue open on trying to sign him to a new contract.
Robertson, 26, is set to be a restricted free agent on July 1 and is coming off a four-year, $31 million contract with a cap hit of $7.75 million.
LeBrun said earlier in the week that Robertson and the Stars worked to get a new deal done last week but couldn’t agree on numbers, adding that he was told Robertson’s contract ask was “eye-opening.”
“No, I wouldn’t say progress, but they’re still talking,” said LeBrun on Thursday’s edition of Insider Trading. “And that’s what’s one thing that teams are wondering is when are they going to give up on trying to sign him and just trade him? Well, they haven’t given up yet. So talks still continuing on this day between the two sides.
“But I just don’t know if they can find that common ground. I don’t think the Stars are that comfortable paying Jason Robertson that much more money than Mikko Rantanen, who’s their top-paid player at $12 million. Yeah, the market shifted and he’s a special player and I get why the ask from his camp is higher than that."
He added on Thursday that the Chicago Blackhawks are among the teams that inquired on Robertson.
On Monday, LeBrun said it was unlikely that Robertson would sign long-term in Ottawa, who was fresh off trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
The Sens would make a big deal of their own on Tuesday, acquiring forwards William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the No. 9 pick in Friday’s NHL Draft.
Robertson led Dallas in scoring last season with 45 goals and 96 points in 82 games. He added five goals and eight points in six postseason games before the Stars were eliminated in the first round.
Drafted 39th overall by the Stars in 2017, Robertson has 213 goals and 490 points in 456 career games.
