Stars Desperately Need Robertson, Oettinger Deals Done

It’s almost September, and the Dallas Stars have still not signed two of their most important players.

Forward Jason Robertson and goaltender Jake Oettinger are both restricted free agents, and neither one has re-signed with the Stars at this point. I haven’t even heard rumblings out of Dallas related to progress (or lack thereof) on contracts.

Already this offseason, we have seen deals, such as the one that Nazem Kadri signed with the Calgary Flames, that seemingly came out of nowhere, so it could be possible that the Stars have made more progress than we think with these young superstars.

With that said, I would take no comfort in that at all if I was a Dallas Stars fan. In fact, until those two are firmly under contract, I would be feeling very pessimistic about what the 2022-2023 season might hold.

The Stars would be doomed without Oettinger and Robertson.

The reality is that without Oettinger, this team has no reliable starting goaltender. Ben Bishop and Braden Holtby are gone, Anton Khudobin is still injured, and Scott Wedgewood has never played more than 37 games in a season.

For years, the Stars have put stellar defenses on the ice to support underachieving offenses. Could you imagine what this aging team would look like without its up-and-coming netminder?

As far as Robertson is concerned, his 79 points last season were the second-most of any player on the team a season ago. He was one of only three players to score 50 points in 2021-2022, and if, for some reason, he doesn’t return to Big D, this lackluster offense will suffer greatly.

I have to think that these deals will get done, but at what point do we stop assuming and start brainstorming trade destinations? I mean, it’s not as though a precedent hasn’t been set this summer for unhappy restricted free agents requesting their way out of their current cities.

The Stars won’t be as bad as the Chicago Blackhawks or Arizona Coyotes, no matter what happens as this offseason continues, but without Oettinger and Robertson, Dallas will finish sixth in the Central and won’t even sniff the playoffs.