Insider Jeff Marek said Tuesday that the Dallas Stars are moving quickly this week, with the organization wanting the Jason Robertson contract issue settled and also pursuing Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin before Friday.
Two major transactions. One deadline. In three days, a lot of hockey business must be completed.
Robertson, 26, is coming off one of the league’s finest regular seasons, totaling 96 points (45 goals, 51 assists) in 82 games while carrying a cap cost of $7.75 million.
Additionally, this spring, he played six playoff games with a 5-3-8 record.
It sounds straightforward to try to secure a player who has just scored 96 points. It seldom is.
GM Jim Nill obviously wants to keep the heart of the team together instead of taking the chance of losing a member of it. The Stars concluded the regular season with 112 points, 50-20-12, good for third place in the league.
Two organizations would be transformed overnight if Larkin moved to Dallas.
Larkin is a more difficult and complex discussion. With a cap hit of $8.7 million this season, the Red Wings captain scored 34 goals and recorded 67 points.
Steve Yzerman has built something genuinely great in Detroit, which concluded the season with a record of 41-31-10. Shipping out Larkin, the face of that franchise, would not be a modest roster modification.
It would feel more like taking the engine out of a car that had finally begun running again.
Absorbing Robertson’s deal with Larkin’s $8.7 million on the Stars’ side would demand some significant cap acrobatics from coach Glen Gulutzan.
The immediacy is real, even if Marek didn’t explain why Dallas wants both completed by Friday specifically.
When a team is this good and this hungry, the league doesn’t wait.
Robertson is an essential component. Larkin’s addition would completely change the Stars’ ceiling and make Detroit’s future two or three years more difficult.
Friday is just around the corner.
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