We Now Know Why Stars RFAs Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger are Without Contracts
It has been a crazy offseason so far, with all sorts of unexpected transactions. Big names have been moved, and the biggest trade of the century went down no more than a month ago. Amidst all the mayhem, many of our lingering questions have been answered. The biggest remaining question of the offseason is:
The Dallas Stars were the last team to clinch a playoff berth in 2021-22, and if it wasn't for a long list of injuries plaguing the Vegas Golden Knights, they probably wouldn't have even made the postseason. Once they got to the postseason, it was virtually a unanimously held belief that the Stars would be an easy out for the Calgary Flames. Jake Oettinger is pretty much the only reason why that series went longer than five games. Obviously, the Stars deserve credit for battling the way they did, but the Flames outshot them 287 - 195 in the series and had a 60.03 xGF% (per NST) in the series. Oettinger posted a 1.81 GAA and .954 SV% in the playoffs after a 30-15-1 regular season record. It's safe to say, without him they probably don't even make the playoffs.
Similarly, without Jason Robertson's 79 point season (88 point pace per 82), the Stars' offense would have been virtually nonexistent. The NHL's 30th ranked offense ran through the trio of Robertson - Pavelski - Hintz, so I don't think it's too farfetched to say Robertson and Oettinger are the two most critical pieces of the Dallas Stars' organization.
So why the heck aren't they signed already? Well, Star's owner went on The Cam & Strick Podcast and offered a potential answer...
Owner Tom Gaglardi's philosophy is that the new wave of young stars demanding huge bags out of their entry-level deals are squeezing 'middle of the roster' players and veterans, and he does not like that. It is true, that there is only so much money to go around, and, historically, big money deals are typically saved for prime-aged players or veterans with more of an NHL résumé. As it stands, only three teams have more cap space than the Dallas Stars right now, but the team's books are not exactly in great shape.
( CapFriendly )
The Stars currently delegate over $19 million to forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who combined for just 95 points in 2021-22, which comes out to roughly $200,000 per point, which is considerably higher than league average. On top of Benn and Seguin, they also allocated $5.8 million to Esa Lindell, who is a fine defensive defensman, but he also has 141 points in 440 NHL games. It is these deals that stand in the way of throwing huge sacks of cash at Oettinger and Robertson. Well, those and the Stars' owner's thoughts on paying young stars.
With just over $10 million to spend, the Stars had better figure out a way to pay their two budding stars, or they will put themselves at risk of facing an offer sheet. Although, I don't know how serious that risk is, given how few teams have the cap space to do so. Nevertheless, signing Robertson and Oettinger, at the very least, to bridge deals has to be GM Jim Nill's top priority.
| POLL | ||
AOÛT 30 | 249 ANSWERS We Now Know Why Stars RFAs Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger are Without Contracts Should young stars command big money off of their entry-level deals? | ||
| Yes | 120 | 48.2 % |
| No | 129 | 51.8 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||