Dallas Stars owner completely disrespects Jason Robertson during an interview

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Josh tupper
August 30, 2022 (5:16 PM)

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The Dallas Stars still have two remaining restricted free agents on their roster. Neither Jason Robertson or Jake Oettinger has come to terms with the club on a new contract yet. After recent comments from the Stars owner it feels like they might not be particularly close either.

Stars' owner Tom Gaglardi joined the crew of the Cam & Strick Podcast to share his thoughts on how contracts are handed out today. Gaglardi was asked the following question:

Okay. So how do you look at contracts in the NHL today? Because, you know, it wasn't too long ago where you know, kind of had to establish yourself before you got paid the big time money. Now, these kids coming out of entry level contracts, man, they're getting, they're getting paid big time money as well, and you got a couple of young guys in Jason Robertson and of course, Oettinger, your goal to enter.

I mean how do you look at that? Because you've rewarded the veteran guys. Do you feel comfortable handing it over to a young guys? How do you approach it?

This question is one that has plagued many General Managers around the league with the shift in pay allotment. Gaglardi gave the following answer:

You know the two big things that have changed. I think in the last few years you know, the absence of the second contract. And so you know the kid in the third year of his entry level deal puts up 40 goals. Now he wants to make seven million. So and you know, if you want term with that player, he's gonna take you higher than that. So, so that's a big change.

And you know, what what's really happening is, the stars are taking all the money and the guys in the middle are getting squeezed. So the, you know, the differences are, you know, the veterans? The veterans who don't score a lot are getting squeezed. And, you know, I don't like it. I think there's a lot of players in the league, making a million dollars who are better players. And and then the guys who can put the puck in the net are getting are getting you know too big too big, a piece of the pie.

Now that's a bold train of thought, when ultimately the goals are the most important aspect of the game. Last year Robertson put up 79 points in 74 games, including 41 goals. He was also 1 of only 3 players to score more than 25 goals for the Stars.

The idea that more money should be paid to replacement level talent is exactly what plagues so many teams in a salary cap era. The concept of overpaying depth players to keep star players salaries down is a wild concept and shows how out of touch the Stars owner is. Not to mention sharing the contract asks of his best player will likely be frowned upon by Robertson and his agent.