Countdown to Free Agent Frenzy: About those Robertson rumours...

While the Stanley Cup Final is just underway, the NHL's off-season has arrived for 30 teams who are preparing for the NHL Draft starting on June 27 and Free Agent Frenzy on July 1. TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.

All quiet on Robertson? 

While the rumour mill has been abuzz with speculation that Jason Robertson could be available with the Dallas Stars in need of cap space, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is pouring cold water on those reports.

"League executives say the Stars haven’t shown any interest in moving Robertson and there haven’t been any talks," Garrioch writes. 

The Stars exited the playoffs in the Western Conference Final for the third straight season last week and enter the off-season with just $4.95 million in cap space.

Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Evgenii Dadonov, Mikael Granlund, Colin Blackwell, Cody Ceci and Brendan Smith are all pending UFAs, with Mavrik Bourque and Nils Lundqvist in need of new deals as restricted free agents. 

Robertson, 25, topped the 30-goal mark for the third time in his career this season, posting 35 goals and 80 points in 82 games. A late-season injury forced him to miss time early in the playoffs, where he finished with four goals and six points in 11 games. 

A two-time 40-goal scorer, Robertson is scheduled for restricted free agency in 2026 as he enters the last year of his current contract with a cap hit of $7.75 million.

Garrioch notes the Senators have been linked to Robertson, but the team appears to be looking for a right-shot defenceman to upgrade their roster this summer. He adds that Ottawa continues to listen on Drake Batherson, but moving the winger is far from guaranteed. 

Blackhawks non-committal on making a big splash

The Chicago Blackhawks are flush with cap space and hoping to take a step forward next season after finishing last in the Central - and bottom three in the NHL - for the third year in a row. 

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Thursday, though, that he isn't rushing to make a big move unless it fits the team's long-term vision. 

“I feel like that’s been the consensus every single year I’ve been GM, other than the first. I feel like every summer, it’s like, ‘Well, they’ve got to go do something now,’" Davidson said, per The Athletic and Chicago Sun Times. "Look, we’re always open to exploring these things, but it’s got to be right. It’s got to make sense. We can’t do something that’s going to be counter to the path that we’ve set out on. If there is a big move that presents itself, that makes sense, then I’m all for exploring that and pursuing something that does make sense. But to say we’re going to do something just to say we did something, and then it doesn’t make sense with where we’re at or where we’re going, then I don’t think we can do that. That would be irresponsible.

“The other thing, too, is the idea of a big splash, that’s so hard to do, right? That’s so hard to find. Especially with the salary cap going up, there’s a lot of teams that have access to space and money that wasn’t in the system before. That’s either going to probably hold players in their current place or create new teams that are in the mix on a few players that do become available. So it creates more competition for a smaller number of players and just makes things harder, right?"

According to PuckPedia, the Blackhawks enter the off-season with the fourth-most cap space in the league with $29.2 million in space and 21 players under contract for next season.

While Davidson seemed to suggest the Blackhawks may not swing big in the free-agent market, he made it clear he's willing to dip into the team's significant draft capital to make a significant trade.

“Yeah, of course. That’s something we’re very open to. Very murky and not clear to me if that’s even available," Davidson said. "Something that the rising salary cap did is give people, in the majority of the cases, the flexibility to keep their players. Normally, the No. 1 motivator of movement is salary-cap constraint, and a lot of teams have been relieved of that this year. There seems to be a little more comfort, I’d say, around the league. That’s something that feels a little more new this year. But yes, we would be very open and comfortable exploring that if it arose.

“I think with each year you get from our draft process, you get more and more willing. The first couple years of our process, if you were to ask me that I was willing to move first-round picks or second-round picks for players, you know, I would have, but it was probably less likely. As we go, it’s more and more likely to acquire people that fit where we’re going and maybe some gaps that we need to fill. As we go, I think it’s something we’re always really exploring, exploring hard, but you can’t manifest that out of nothing. There’s a supply and demand there, and the supply in the NHL with good players that become available is just limited. It’s just the way it goes.”

The Blackhawks have four first-round picks and five second-round picks over the next two years after adding Artyom Levshunov, Sacha Boisvert and Marek Vanacker in the first round of the 2024 draft. 

How big will Bennett's deal be? 

With two goals in the opening game of the Stanley Cup Final, Sam Bennett's potential earnings on the the free-agent market continue to rise. 

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reiterated Thursday that he believes there are teams willing to the pay the Florida Panthers centre $10 million per season in order to sign him on July 1. 

Bennett, 28, had 25 goals and 51 points in 76 games with the Florida Panthers last season. He's added 12 goals and 18 points in 18 playoff games so far.

The 6-foot-1 centre is coming off of a four-year, $17.7 million contract that carried a cap hit of $4.425 million.  

Bennett helped the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history last year, recording seven goals and 14 points in 19 games during their playoff run. 

Drafted fourth overall by the Calgary Flames in 2014, Bennett has 162 goals and 336 points in 691 career games split between the Flames and Panthers. 

Watch LeBrun's full breakdown on Bennett's potential free agency below: