Dallas Stars left winger Jason Robertson is ready to make a risky career decision by going to salary arbitration this summer.
Robertson recently turned down an eight-year, $120 million contract with the Seattle Kraken, who had worked out a trade with the Stars for the star winger.
He remains on Dallas’ roster for now, and he is said to want to stay with the Stars going forward. But the team is capped out and can’t come anything close to the $15 million mark that Seattle offered.
Now, it’s looking like Robertson may take an alternate route for his final season as a restricted free agent: salary arbitration.
Jason Robertson Open to Salary Arbitration
According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, Robertson is considering going to salary arbitration this summer for the final season of his RFA eligibility, and then hitting the free-agent market next summer as an unrestricted free agent, where he would be able to go anywhere he wants.
“If Jason Robertson does get traded by the Dallas Stars, it appears that now it won’t come with the guarantee of signing a long-term contract. Word is that the biggest concern is about trade protection. If Robertson signs a long-term deal, the first season would not be eligible to have a no-trade clause with it because it’s not a UFA year. So, even if he did come to terms with the Stars (or any other team) on a long-term deal, he would be exposed to the possibility of a trade. The most likely scenario now for Robertson is salary arbitration, which would likely award him with a one-year deal in the vicinity of $9-10 million. It would be a risky decision, but one that would give him a lot more control on his long-term,” Kypreos wrote.
Jason Robertson Would Be Taking Big Risk
By turning down Seattle’s long-term contract offer, and presumably one from Dallas, as well, Robertson would be taking a big risk by going to salary arbitration.
If he gets injured this year or has a down season, he may not get as much money as Seattle was offering him next summer on his next contract. That’s the risk he is taking by leaving the money on the table right now.
That being said, if Robertson explodes for another massive season, say, hitting the 50-goal mark, he could potentially get close to Kirill Kaprizov’s $17 million AAV on his next contract. That’s the reward.
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