Mac Engel: Stars must learn from their own history when addressing Jason Robertson

FORT WORTH, Texas — More than 20 years separate one of the most celebrated players in the history of the Dallas Stars and current All-Star forward Jason Robertson who now is on a path unintentionally followed by Derian Hatcher, a man whose legacy with the team is championships, and one unfortunate exit.

It is a coincidence that Stars GM Jim Nill finds himself navigating Robertson’s situation, because Nill had a role in Hatcher’s departure from Dallas.

On Tuesday, the Stars announced they signed Robertson to a one-year, $12 million deal. The deal allows the Stars to avoid arbitration with Robertson, who was a restricted free agent. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next spring.

The earliest the Stars can give Robertson an extension is Jan. 1, 2027. Try as they may to spin it, this situation is a cloud. Not a dark one full of storms. Not a white one fully of rainbows, hugs and sunshine. Whatever the Stars have said about Robertson also must include that they tried to trade him once this summer, and now Robertson knows exactly how the team feels about him.

Nill met with the media on Wednesday morning and again spoke of his desire to keep Robertson so that he retires with the organization; Nill tried to trade him last month. Robertson talked to the media via Zoom later in the afternoon, and was as honest as he could be while stressing that everything about this situation that has happened is in the past.

If the Stars think they can win the Stanley Cup, Robertson has to be with the team throughout the season. If they don’t think it’s going to happen, they have to trade Robertson before March 5, 2027. That’s the NHL’s trade deadline, and they can’t risk doing with Robertson what they did with Hatcher.

The Stars sketchy history with restricted free agents

Robertson was 3 when the Stars started the 2002-‘03 season with their All-Star defenseman, Hatcher, playing on the final year of his contract.

The Stars were then owned by the late Tom Hicks, and a big payroll team. Hatcher was 30, and a major factor in the team’s Stanley Cup appearances, Cup title and long run at the top of the Western Conference.

He was a big, punishing beast on skates who was the captain of a popular team, a member of the U.S. Olympic roster and now is in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Rather than give him an extension, or trade him at any point, the Stars opted to ride with Hatcher on a roster that was built for a run to the Stanley Cup.

After the team lost in the second round of the playoffs; Stars GM Doug Armstrong lobbied Hicks hard to sign Hatcher to an extension, but it didn’t go anywhere.

In July 2003, Hatcher signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings, whose assistant GM was ... Jim Nill. The Stars let Hatcher leave for nothing in return, a fact that burned a lot of people in the organization.

Hatcher played in only 15 games for the Red Wings in 2003-'04 after he tore his right ACL. The injury did not end his career, but it changed it.

The next season was wiped out to the NHL’s lockout, and when the league re-launched the new rule changes worked against players like Hatcher. The Red Wings waived him in July 2005, and he played three more years with the Philadelphia Flyers before retiring at 35.

Hicks guessed right that they had already enjoyed Hatcher’s best years and to hand a player of that age, and mileage, was not worth the risk.

Robo is not Hatch', but there are enough similarities that under no circumstance should Nill let Robertson become a free agent. Either sign him and live with the consequences, or deal him.

The NHL’s warning about 30 year olds

At the same time Hatcher was playing the final year of his contract with the Stars, and Robertson was learning how to skate, the NHL aggressively pushed the narrative that long-term extensions to free agents were the product of Satan.

Part of this PR push was to invite media members to its office in midtown Manhattan with a 30-minute presentation that included powerpoint slides explaining why the NHL’s finances were a wreck. The league was staging its fight against the NHL player’s association knowing a lockout was coming.

Most of it was BS, but one point was not: Big contracts given to free agents who turn 30 during the deal nearly all were disasters for the team. Players were winning on these contracts, and the teams were tired of it.

Players today can become free agents earlier in their careers than they could in 2003, but the point about 30-somethings remains mostly accurate, a detail the Stars have dealt with under Nill.

The Stars history with their big-time 30 somethings

Robertson will be 27 next year. Prime production years. Whatever long-term deal he signs, at least four seasons will be on the other side of 30.

Nill, and team owner Tom Gaglardi, have shown they don’t fear the big three-oh.

In July 2016, they handed winger Jamie Benn an eight-year, $76 million contract. He was 26, and this is the instance of a long-term deal that worked for both parties.

Two years later, they handed forward Tyler Seguin an 8-year, $78.8 million contract. He was 27, and this is the instance of a long-term deal that continues to bite the team. Seguin is a great pro who has had his moments, but he’s also dealt with major injuries that have reduced him to a different caliber player.

The Stars drafted and developed Robertson who is a top goal-scorer. They also tried to trade him last month to Seattle, which unintentionally announced how they feel about the prospects of giving him a long term contract.

Robertson is now a cloud over the Stars and, whatever happens, they just can’t do with him what they did with Derian Hatcher.

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