The Sheet Blog: Could the Stars trade Jason Robertson this summer?
Every team has its own issues and decisions after bowing out of the playoffs, but perhaps no team is more interesting than the Dallas Stars right now. After back-to-back Western Conference final appearances, there seems to be a Vegas Golden Knights vibe around the team that screams, “not good enough.”
Now certainly emotions are raw, and nerves are close to the skin right after an emotional loss, especially one surrounded by controversy as the Stars’ loss to the Edmonton Oilers was, so you try not to make decisions when disappointment reigns and tempers flare, but Dallas is in an interesting position.
The owner Tom Gaglardi knows hockey. Loves hockey. And he’s given his team everything they’ve asked for and has always pushed to make a run in the postseason.
Veteran GM Jim Nill has been able to allow the Stars program to build, tempering expectations, but this was the season to strike, and Nill surrendered three first-round picks and a player in Logan Stankoven, whom many believed would never be part of a Stars trade, to get there. It was time and Dallas went for it. All in. They brought in a top-10 player in the league in Mikko Rantanen along with Mikael Granlund (who was excellent in these playoffs) and Cody Ceci. Nill was also in on Seth Jones and Brad Marchand.
So, what now?
Could the Stars move someone like Jason Robertson, who has one more year on his deal at an incredible $7.75 million value, to try to recoup Draft capital and free up cap space to once again go big-game hunting in the summer? If so, I’d watch the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks as possible destinations.
And if (and it’s a big ‘if’) the Stars move Robertson, do we start to hear Mitch Marner’s name attached to Dallas?
The Stars still want to be tougher. I believe if Mathieu Olivier got to market, the Stars would have been all over him.
How about Aaron Ekblad? Dallas covets a big right shot defenseman and along with Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell, Ekblad would instantly vault Dallas into elite blueline territory.
Coach Peter DeBoer is on the last season of a four-year deal, and we wonder if Nill does something here. And speaking of Dallas coaches, I do wonder if the team needs to promote their AHL head coach Neil Graham, who has been doing excellent work with the Texas Stars and other teams are noticing. I’m not necessarily talking about a head coaching position in the NHL, but Graham is probably ready to step onto an NHL bench at least in an assistant capacity. The Texas Stars are currently down 2-0 against Abbotsford in in the AHL’s Western Conference Finals.
How Jarmo will sharpen the Sabres
Smart hire by the Buffalo Sabres bringing in Jarmo Kekalainen as a senior advisor. GM Kevyn Adams will still have final say on decisions, but adding someone of Kekalainen’s stature and experience can only help this team that’s about to enter a season where the Sabres must show improvement as the owner expects playoffs. It’s also not just with talent where Kekalainen’s expertise will be vital but also contract negotiations, where the former Columbus GM very much believes in the, “If you have the hammer, use it” motto. Doing contracts with the Sabres may have just got tougher for some agents out there.
Also, Buffalo needs to bring in at least one more veteran defenseman and could use JJ Peterka and/or Bowen Byram to get one.
As CHL season ends, player comings and goings begin
Congrats to the London Knights on winning the Memorial Cup. What the Hunter brothers have put together in London is truly remarkable, with three Memorial Cup victories, six OHL championships and a slew of players graduated to the NHL since they bought the team in 25 years ago.
And now we wait to see if top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna goes back to Medicine Hat or heads to college. It does very much feel like he needs a new challenge after tearing up the WHL this season with 129 points and a record setting 54-game point streak. Schools he’s been most attached to in the hockey rumours barking chain are Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State. We’ll see what happens.
Speaking of college hot goss, the weekend was buzzing about projected first-round pick Jackson Smith of the Tri-City Americans committing to Penn State. I’m not saying it won’t happen, but there is so far no commitment. There was a conversation between the player and the school, and a visit is planned, but that’s where Smith is at as of now.
Another name we all wonder about is Justin Carbonneau of the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. A projected first-round pick in the draft, Carbonneau leaving would be devastating to a team that has been building to next season not unlike the Victoria Royals who just lost projected first round pick in this years NHL draft Cole Reschny and defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, who will be a first rounder in the 2026 NHL draft. Both players left the WHL to play at North Dakota.
Look for a couple of high profile USHL names to make their way to the OHL soon. Defenseman Callum Croskery is expected to sign with the Soo Greyhounds as early as this week.
Also, Adam Valentini and the Kitchener Rangers are inching closer to an agreement. Both Croskery and Valentini played with the Chicago Steel last season and are both projected first round NHL picks in 2026.
I asked CHL president Dan MacKenzie on Friday’s edition of The Sheet about the new realities of the new development model between the CHL and NCAA. I thought his answer wasn’t as boring as he claimed but was pretty spot-on.
Jeff Marek:
How do you swim in these new waters? What’s your approach with all this?
Dan MacKenzie:
You know, I’ve been asked this question quite a bit since November, basically, since this came out. And my response — it might be a bit of a boring one, but it’s true — is that I don’t think, Jeff, we’re really going to know how this is all going to play out for a few more years.
When you talk to personnel people who have been in this their whole lives, they say that this was a monumental change to the development system, and it’s going to take time. In the short term, there are going to be players who choose to go, but first of all, I think the way we look at it — on the entry end — is that we’re going to be the beneficiary of having the vast majority of elite prospects want to play in our league. And we’ve already started to see that.
Then, on the older end, you mentioned a player today who made the decision to leave — well, yeah, I think that’s going to be a reality too. And I think you’re right, there are a lot of factors that go into those decisions, and every player is different.
Some players are going to want to stay. They’ll want to wear a letter on their jersey, learn how to be a leader, play on the penalty kill and the power play. They’ll want to be in an environment where they’re really well understood and have a great role. Some of those players want to be professional hockey players and not have the added burden of also being a university student.
For those players, they’ll stay. But there will be others who make the decision to leave. And I think you’re probably right — some are going to go.
The NCAA is an older league. I believe the average age of a freshman is 21. You’ve got players in their mid-20s playing in that league. So, a lot of it comes down to the individual; what’s important to the player, their family, what kind of student they are, and ultimately where they want to get to in their career, whether that’s as a professional hockey player or in another occupation.
For the high-end players, it’s going to be an interesting thing to watch. But what we need to do is focus on being a great place for 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20-year-old players to develop. And we need to be able to look ourselves in the mirror and say, “We’re doing all we can to make sure that’s a reality.”
If we can do that, we’ve got a proven track record of 19- and 20-year-olds thriving once they leave our league and go off to play professional hockey. This year, for example, we’re projected to have 170 players from Central Scouting who are eligible for the NHL Draft, many of whom are projected to go in the first round.
And the other piece to this is the NHL teams that draft these players — they’re going to have a say in what they want and how they view that player’s development.
So that’s why you hear rumors and see various things floated out there. But until we get a few years into this, I don’t think we’re going to really know the impact. What I can say is: we’ll be ready. We’re going to do what we have to do to ensure we continue to be a great place for these players to develop, just like we have been in the past.
Rink Fries
Last week we went over a few front office names in the Florida Panthers organization that teams may look at poaching: Sunny Mehta, Rick Dudley and as someone mentioned to me, we should have also thrown Panthers senior vice-president of hockey operations Paul Krepelka’s name in there as well. But what about the Oilers? One name jumps out at me here – assistant GM Bill Scott. He’s been with the Oilers since Steve Tambellini hired him to run AHL Oklahoma City and has watched this edition of the team built from the root to the fruit…Going to throw a couple of PWHL coaching darts here and see if they land. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see Clarkson women’s coach Matt Desrosiers end up coaching Vancouver and Dave Flint of Northeastern in Seattle.
_____
The Sheet is live! Hosted by Jeff Marek, this brand-new show is your daily deep dive into the biggest hockey stories, trends, and insights across the NHL, PWHL, junior hockey, and beyond. Streaming every weekday at 3 PM ET on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel, The Sheet features exclusive interviews with top hockey figures, from industry executives to Olympic champions. Don’t miss out—subscribe to Daily Faceoff on YouTube and follow @TheSheetHockey on social media to stay up-to-date with all the latest from the world of hockey.
_____