rewrite this title One of these two creative solutions could end the deadlock between Stars, Jason Robertson

The highest-tender offer sheet would likely put an end to Jason Robertson’s time in Dallas

On Wednesday, July 1, teams can begin submitting offer sheets to Robertson. 

Only twice in the salary-cap era has a team even attempted to use the highest-level tender on an offer sheet to pry a player away from another team. No such offer sheet has ever been successful. NHL restricted free agency allows teams to submit offers to players with compensation attached, allowing the original team right of first refusal. If the player accepts an offer, the original team has seven days to determine if they will match or accept compensation. 

Compensation for restricted free agents is determined by a scale that follows the salary cap each season. The average annual value (or cap hit) tied to a contract offer determines the compensation. This summer, under a $104 million salary-cap league, compensation for restricted free agent begins at $1,575,970. The full scale is available at Puck Pedia.

Teams can only use picks that originally belonged to them — meaning no picks acquired via trade are eligible. Plus, there is no protection for the first-round picks.

Dallas might not match an offer sheet at the highest tier. The Stars don’t seem comfortable with Robertson’s current reported ask. Even if the organization came around on the number, matching an offer sheet would mean subtracting pieces off the roster to make the money work. 

There are 29 teams who could offer four unprotected first-round picks over the next five years. It’s reasonable to think that if a team that’s had a recent history of struggles — like the always aggressive New York Rangers — made an offer in this tier, Dallas would feel more motivation to let Robertson walk and take the draft pick compensation.

The NBA’s history of four-team trades could inform the NHL

There’s a logjam in potential trade activity right now, created in part by the Robertson situation. A four-team trade, which has not occurred in NHL history, might offer some help here.

There are two teams that make immediate sense — Dallas and the Detroit Red Wings. If Dallas trades Robertson, an intriguing option for the Stars could be kicking one of their centers out to the wing and acquiring disgruntled Red Wings center Dylan Larkin to play down the middle. 

There are three teams that come to mind as potential Robertson suitors — the Utah Mammoth, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. All three have the salary-cap space to make a deal work. If none of them want to go the RFA route, all three have potential asset paths. Utah already acquired additional assets dealing winger JJ Peterka over the weekend. New York and Boston have center assets that could fetch enough of a return to help bolster a potential trade offer for Robertson. 

The fourth team in this scenario would be the team sending assets to New York or Boston for either Vincent Trocheck or Pavel Zacha. It would have to be a team in need of a center, but one that doesn’t have enough high-end assets to go after Dylan Larkin. The Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings both come to mind.

It’s an outside-the-box thought, but that’s what this situation might require if 29 NHL teams are unwilling to go the offer-sheet route while Dallas is unwilling to meet Robertson’s contract demands.