LAS VEGAS — Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson would not sign a long-term contract with the Seattle Kraken in June. Seattle center Matty Beniers said this week that the refusal did not sit well in the Kraken room. Beniers spoke at the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas.
Beniers said the reputation Seattle carries around the league does not match what the players there see.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Beniers said. “There’s a tough rep about Seattle because it’s rainy, and maybe the city. But guys love it in Seattle, the guys that are there. When the sun’s out, it’s beautiful. There’s so much nature; there are a lot of things to do.”
“So yeah, it obviously doesn’t feel good when you’re on a team and you try to get someone else and they don’t want to come,” Beniers continued. “But at the same time, if you don’t want to be here, we don’t want you, anyway.”
How The Seattle Kraken Trade For Jason Robertson Fell Apart
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported in June that Seattle had put an eight-year offer worth $15 million per season in front of Robertson, who was a restricted free agent at the time. Stars general manager Jim Nill acknowledged at the conclusion of the NHL draft that Dallas had a sign-and-trade in place to send Robertson to Seattle for the seventh overall pick. Robertson held no veto over the trade itself. He would not sign the contract the trade was built on, and the deal never went through.
Jeff Marek of The Daily Faceoff reported on June 25 that Robertson had also turned down a move to the St. Louis Blues.
Players controlling where they go is not the part that bothers Beniers.
“It’s up to them; it’s their decision,” Beniers explained. “Every team, you want guys that want to be there. You don’t want to bring someone in that doesn’t want to be there. It just won’t work out.”
Seattle had been through a version of this five months earlier. Before the February trade deadline, Friedman reported that the Kraken offered Artemi Panarin a four-year extension at an average annual value above $14 million. Panarin carried a full no-movement clause. He went to the Los Angeles Kings instead, on a two-year, $22 million extension.
The $15 million per season would have made Robertson the second-highest paid player in the league when it was presented in June, behind Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov at $17 million. Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson passed Kaprizov later in the summer at $18 million, when the Ducks matched the five-year, $90 million offer sheet he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Jason Robertson’s One-Year Contract With The Dallas Stars
Robertson filed for salary arbitration on July 5, one of 15 restricted free agents to do so. On July 21, the night before his 27th birthday and four days before his scheduled hearing, Dallas announced a one-year contract worth $12 million. Robertson can become an unrestricted free agent for the first time next summer. His $12 million matches Mikko Rantanen, who is in the second season of an eight-year, $96 million extension, for the highest figure on the roster.
Robertson spent the summer watching where the league was going; he told reporters the day after the deal was announced.
“Dallas, obviously, it’s where I started,” Robertson said. “I’ve built a great career out here and obviously throughout the summer you see where the League is going, see what happens and everything.”
Nill called Robertson a cornerstone of the franchise since the 2017 draft in the team’s announcement, and one of the league’s top offensive threats since his debut.
Last season, Robertson played all 82 games and led Dallas with 45 goals, 51 assists, and 96 points. The Stars finished 50-20-12, second in the Central Division, and lost to the Minnesota Wild in the first round. Robertson had 5 goals, 3 assists, and 8 points in those six playoff games. Across seven seasons, all in Dallas, he has 213 goals, 277 assists, and 490 points in 456 regular-season games.
Seattle took Beniers second overall in the 2021 draft. He finished last season with 20 goals, 30 assists, and 50 points in 82 games, and he has 196 points in 331 career games.
Dallas hosts the St. Louis Blues on Friday, Oct. 2 in the season opener. Puck drop at American Airlines Center is at 8 p.m. CT on TNT. Robertson’s first trip to Seattle comes Dec. 1. The Stars play there again two nights later, at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu.
