The Toronto Maple Leafs have a unique opportunity to truly pivot from the failed Core Four experiment.
Rumors of Jason Robertson’s sudden availability in Dallas have caught the NHL by storm. The talk, which was originally sparked by Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal, has caught on around the league.
Most recently, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff has also gone on record discussing Jason Robertson’s potential availability this summer amid the Stars’ complicated cap situation.
Before getting into the meat and potatoes of this piece, I’d like to preface my argument by stating that the Stars went all in. They mashed their cap situation to the max and now have a host of fee agents they cannot hope to sign with a little under $5 million in cap space.
That being said, the Stars could be moving Robertson, who’s entering the final year of his current deal with a cap hit of $7.75 million. He’ll be an RFA next season and will be looking for a raise.
So, I’m just going to go out there and say it. The Toronto Maple Leafs should reunite the Robertson brothers. Let Mitch Marner go bye-bye. Bring in Jason and re-sign Nick on a two-year deal worth $1 million AAV.
That still leaves plenty of cap space to re-sign Matthew Knies and John Tavares plus add around the fringes.
There’s no reason Brad Treliving can’t pull this trade off. The Stars aren’t in the most aggressive bargaining position to begin with. Plus, other teams may be wary of Robertson’s reluctance to re-sign with them past next season.
But that wouldn’t be the case if Jason had a chance to join his brother. I mean, why not? Jason and Nick’s parents have been torn about their sons playing on different teams. I recall Mrs. Robertson wearing a split jersey, with the Stars on one side and the Leafs on the other.
So, let’s just go ahead and buy Mrs. Robertson one Toronto jersey and call it a day.
Jason Robertson provides perfect chance to usher new era
If Brad Treliving wants to make his mark on the team following his unshackling from Brendan Shanahan, this is the opportunity.
Now, it’s unclear what the asking price for Jason Robertson is at the moment. But I doubt the Stars will be playing hardball for too long. If I had my way, Joseph Woll would be going the other way.
But seeing as this would be strictly a cap move, I could see the Maple Leafs sending a package of mid-tier prospects, guys on league-minimum deals who could round out Dallas’ bottom six, but without adding too much to the cap.
Even a pack of late-round picks could do the trick. Heck, why not pull a Mike Ditka and just give Dallas the Leafs' entire draft this year? Toronto doesn’t really have many substantial picks, so it wouldn’t be an organization-shattering move.
At the end of the day, the Leafs have a unique inside track on landing Jason Robertson. Making this move would essentially show Marner the door. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of this Marner drama. That is why preemptively striking could mean the difference between competing next season and seeing a golden opportunity slip through the team’s fingers.