The Stars closed out their preseason on Thursday with Jason Robertson watching from the press box as Dallas lost 4-3 in overtime against the St. Louis Blues.
For Robertson, who had a cyst surgically removed from his foot on July 31, it’s the second time in the past three seasons he’ll be the only player in the opening-night lineup to skip the entire preseason.
Two seasons ago, after sitting out the preseason because of a contract dispute, Robertson followed it up with a 109-point campaign, the most any player has scored since the franchise moved from Minnesota in 1993. He was the next face of the franchise, the heir to Mike Modano as an exciting American goal scorer with the star on his jersey.
Last season, with a full training camp and preseason, Robertson’s point total dropped by 29, to 80. From a hockey card perspective, it looked like a down year. Upon deeper examination, Robertson actually made strides in his game, becoming a more complete player in all three zones.
His last two seasons effectively profile as two players. One is a volume shooter who was even scarier on the power play. The other is a viable top-six all-around player who gets more responsibility in all situations at even strength.
So, who is the real Jason Robertson? And which version of Robertson will the Stars get this season. And when his four-year contract expires in two seasons, which version will he get paid like?
It’s easy to joke about the lack of preseason games, but Robertson’s absence makes him a mystery box before opening night against the Nashville Predators next Thursday. We assume that a line featuring Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston will be effective. In fact, it could be one of the most dangerous lines in hockey with three players who manipulate space at an elite level and relentlessly bring pressure on the forecheck. It also could also blow up miserably, and without a central figure to demand the puck like a facilitator—this is what Joe Pavelski did at the height of his time in Dallas with Robertson and Hintz—it becomes a line without much substance.
We also assume Robertson will have learned and adapted from his playoff performances. Numbers-wise Robertson has been fine in the postseason, but he has had long stretches in the spring where he was either too predictable for opposing defenders or simply invisible.
But maybe that’s who Robertson is: too predictable for the playoffs, when teams actually game-plan for opponents. If that’s the case, asking for anything more is a fool’s errand.
All of these questions come with a unique backdrop. What Robertson is or isn’t doesn’t determine whether the Stars are a Stanley Cup contender. There’s not a scrutinizing microscope, media or otherwise, and the emergence of other young players, including Johnston and Logan Stankoven, makes it feel as if Robertson is already somehow part of the past at just 25.
That’s why this is more of a short-term role and long-term money question for Robertson. If he’s a 100-point player this season, he could position himself to be the NHL’s highest-paid left winger in two seasons.
For the Stars, the more important question is whether Robertson can be that 100-point player while still contributing some of the other vital elements that made him successful, and do what Modano did in the late 1990s.
There’s a faulty narrative that Modano gave up offense to be a complete player in Dallas, that Ken Hitchcock shackled him offensively so he could shackle opponents. The year the Stars won the Stanley Cup, in 1999, Modano ranked 13th in the NHL in scoring with 81 points. The year he had 93 points, the high for anyone in Dallas before Robertson came along, he ranked 15th in the league. Modano didn’t give up offense to become a complete player; it just became harder for players around the league to score and goaltending got better. Modano added all-around elements, but it never came at cost or with the narrative that people liked to cite.
So that’s the challenge for Robertson: can he find the happy medium between the player he was two seasons ago and last season? Being a 100-point player doesn’t have to come at the expense of all-around performance, and being trusted by the coaches for defensive zone faceoffs doesn’t mean you can’t turn that into points at the other end.
Without any preseason or true training camp to judge Robertson on, we are going to find out on the fly.
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