Overview
- Jason Robertson filed for salary arbitration on Sunday, removing his eligibility for an offer sheet and keeping negotiations confined to Dallas or an eventual arbitrator or trade.
- Filing for arbitration allows an arbitrator to give only a one‑ or two‑year contract and a one‑year award would use the Stars’ final year of control before Robertson can reach unrestricted free agency.
- The move follows Robertson’s rejection of a proposed eight‑year, $120 million sign‑and‑trade to Seattle and reflects a reported contract gap with Robertson seeking about $14 million AAV while Dallas is reluctant to go above roughly $12 million.
- Philadelphia’s five‑year, $18 million AAV offer sheet for Leo Carlsson earlier in the week reshaped the market, prompting roughly 15 RFAs to file for arbitration and pushing teams to protect youngsters such as Anaheim’s Pavel Mintyukov with a reported five‑year, $7.2 million extension.
- What to watch next: whether Dallas and Robertson reach a long‑term deal before any hearing, whether the Stars trade him to a cap‑flexible suitor like the Penguins, and how arbitration decisions or matched offer sheets further reprice elite RFA contracts this summer.