Why Red Wings Are Possible Destination for Robertson

If it comes to trading for Jason Robertson, the Detroit Red Wings have seen this situation before.

Robertson is 26-year-old scorer for the Dallas Stars with 151 goals over the past four seasons. The Stars may trade him. Two years ago, Alex DeBrincat was a 25-year-old scorer for the Ottawa Senators with two 41-goal seasons and two others over 27 goals over a five-year period. The Senators were thinking about trading him.

The Red Wings stepped up and gave the Senators a first-round pick, a fourth-round pick, Dominik Kubalik and Donovan Sebrango to acquire DeBrincat.

They have the draft picks and prospects to do that again to secure Robertson.

Recently, Sportsnet.ca listed Detroit destinations for Robertson if a trade comes to pass.

“The bottom line is Detroit must find a way to push this rebuild forward,” writer Ryan Dixon wrote,
“and Yzerman is more than prepared to act aggressively in the name of doing so.”

The six other possible landing spots listed by Dixon: Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets, Seattle Kraken and Utah Mammoth.

Robertson will be a restricted free agent next summer, and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2027. The decision about whether to trade him will come down to the Stars’ sense of whether they can afford him moving forward. They are paying Mikko Rantanen $12 million per season. They have five other players making $8.2 million or above.

Stars Want Picks Back

The expectation is that the Stars, if they trade Robertson, will be looking to recoup the assets they gave-up to acquire Rantanen from Carolina. They gave up two first-round picks (2026 and 2028), plus Logan Stankoven and two third-round picks.

If they do that, it would be as if they traded Robertson for Rantanen.

Looking to take the next step in their rebuild, the Red Wings could give up two first-rounders. They don’t have a player like Stankoven, but they could offer William Wallinder. He’s not a top four defensive prospect, but he projects to be a dependable third line performer. They also a bushel of players with potential like Anton Johansson, Shai Buium, Max Plante, Jesse Kiiskinen,  Carter Mazur, etc.

The Red Wings will have to give up someone they don’t want to give up to get this kind of deal done.

The other aspect of this kind of deal is whether Robertson is willing to entertain signing long-term with his new team. You can’t really make this kind of deal without a belief is probable. Robertson did play in Detroit as a youth player.

There’s enough available assets for Detroit to get this done, although there will be other teams making similar offers. The Columbus Blue Jackets have a quality collection of prospects, including some forwards with scoring touches.