Canadiens Analysis
Canadiens Trade Talk: Evaluating Robertson Trade Rumours
It’s no secret that the Montreal Canadiens are looking to bolster their lineup, with most fans calling for a second-line centre to play alongside prospect Ivan Demidov.
However, talent is finite in the NHL, which means they can’t ignore any potential avenue that would lead to an elite player, such as Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson.
The Stars are looking to make a few changes following a third-straight year in which they were eliminated with ease in the Western Conference Final. Now that they’ve signed forward Mikko Rantanen to a mega-contract that carries a $12 million annual average value (AAV), there are some concerns they are headed towards an untenable situation from a salary-cap management standpoint.
Hearing of some big changes coming for the Stars
— Savannah Huemoeller (@sportssavvyy) June 2, 2025
With that in mind, Robertson’s name has surfaced in trade rumours as a player who may have to be moved.
He’s not a centre, but let’s make one thing clear, Robertson is an elite player who is just 25 years old, making him an interesting trade target for the offence-starved Montreal Canadiens. It’s not just a matter of producing more than a point-per-game over the course of his five full seasons in the NHL, though that is clearly a plus.
Robertson’s underlying numbers are fantastic, to the point that it’s a little shocking he’d be seriously included in any trade talk.
Should the Stars trade Jason Robertson?
If so, who should be interested? #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/fIIDHbOveB
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 2, 2025
Of course, there’s more to managing a hockey team than just finding players who can produce. Dallas lacks cap space, and Robertson is due for a very healthy raise next summer, as the Stars only managed to sign him to a four-year deal which expires in 2026. The old-school method of evaluating star players via a bridge deal rarely works in the modern sports landscape, and Robertson is the perfect example.
Beyond having to keep money aside for a raise, any team looking to acquire Robertson will have to pony up.
This is not a matter of sending Dallas spare parts for a lightly used Lamborghini.
Forget the type of offer that would involve packaging Michael Ryder, Jaroslav Halak, and a second-round pick.
Oops, I meant a 2025 first-round pick, and some other asset Habs fans wouldn’t mind losing.
If Montreal wants to convince Dallas to move Robertson, they’d have to include some of their best prospects, not to mention enough picks to compensate for the loss of a star player.
Admittedly, coming up with trade offers is not my strength, as I tend to underrate Canadiens players and prospects, but in this case, I feel like Dallas would only trade Robertson if a trade offer would move the needle.
Think of it this way, would the Montreal Canadiens trade a player who cracked the 100-point mark just a couple of years into his NHL career for an offer that only amounts to the sum of the parts once a few mediocre pieces are included?
Absolutely not.
That doesn’t mean the Habs can’t perform due diligence, one of their clear strengths, but if they want to take a ride on the riverboat, they’ll have to go down to the river.
From what I’m hearing the places are limited, and the cost is astronomical.
Feels Dallas painted themselves in a corner with the bridge deal. Either they lose him to free agency or settle for less than his actual value. Thats just bad player management in my opinion
Robertson’s has the regular season scoring to get a lot of interest from teams but his playoff numbers have been dropping and should be something to give HuGo concerns .
The last three playoffs his points went from 19-16 -6 , and along with that his plus/minus also dropped from 0 then -2 and this year -5 . The Stars probably were expecting much more from him . Not the greatest skater , I think it has to be asked , will the scoring be there from him in the playoffs when the speed of the game goes up ?
I don’t think he’s worth emptying the coffers for. He had the one great year with 109 points but has had 80 each of the past two seasons- excellent results but not superstar numbers. Suzuki is more productive and Caufield was 10 points back of Robertson this year.
Yes he’s 6’3” but he wasn’t very noticeable in the playoffs as there is no grit to his game and with 6 points in 11 games, he wasn’t very productive. Not fitting the profile Hughes covets.
Furthermore, his shooting percentage this year was very high at 16.6% which masked the reduction in shot volume, at 211 is over 100 less than his big year in 22-23.
I think he may have peaked at 23 in ‘23. He was 39th overall just behind our Gustav Lindstrom in Laval in the 2017 entry draft, the year we took Poehling at 25. So he wasn’t supposed to be that productive but he’s turned out to be a very good player. Are there others that profile better for our needs at a similar or reduced price? Dobson or MacTavish? I’d pass on him as the price will be steep in a competitive environment.
Laine + Reinbacher or Mailloux + Mesar + pick #16 or 17. That’s the equivalent of 4 first round picks. Sounds like an insane amount, but Mesar is useless, Laine won’t be with us past this season anyway, and we could only dream of getting a player like Robertson with either of our first round picks this season (and we’d probably have to wait 3+ years for that kid to contribute). So, the only piece that’s gonna hurt giving up is Reinbacher or Mailloux. You gotta give up quality to get quality. I think Robertson would be a 90+ point guy for us for the next 7 or 8 years and fit in great with our top 6 group we’re building.
If Mesar is useless, why would Dallas want him. Every habs fan seems to think other teams want our garbage.
Just because that’s my opinion, it doesn’t mean someone else should feel the same way. From my point of view, he’s obviously a throw in and the least important piece of the trade, however he’s still a first round draft pick. There is some value to that and a team can hope that maybe they can get him to achieve his potential. They may not view him as useless like I do.
You still need to fill out your AHL roster and who knows, he might stay healthy and produce. I’m hoping be impresses at habs camp. I would put him with Slaf and Suzuki in preseason to start.
You offer up Mesar and then say he’s useless. Then you say “You gotta give up quality to get quality”.
You sure know how to contradict yourself
I guess you missed the part about Laine, Reinbacher or Mailloux and the 16th or 17th overall pick too.
No thanks. Keeping our young D. They can take Dach , Newhook and the 17th overall pick and dip into free agency. Maybe they can flip one of them for an asset or another pick. He is a still not what we need. We need a young centre to build with or an impact Center to help us now while we wait on hage or another move for a centre if needed in 2 to 3 years.
lol typical tyrone.
I’d say Marc’s coverage is right up there with any sources available covering all things Canadiens. Enjoyed this article too but on one point we don’t agree , that’s in terms of the team’s current offence. To me , the team isn’t starved for offence , their 245 goals this season was just seven less than Florida with 252 . So the Panthers were eight in goals scored in the east , the Canadiens right behind them in ninth .
I think teams are building their lineups to have balance throughput for their team to win . Edmonton’s scoring is much more spread out this season than it was last year . Only three players between the two teams have players who scored more than 6 goals after their first three rounds . Bennett(10) , Draisaitl and Perry with 7 each but each team has nineteen players that have at least one goal .
The Habs will score more goals as the young players continue to grow . I hope whoever they bring in to add to the forward lines will be someone with a good 200 foot game that can contribute on both ends of the ice .
If he were a FA, then yes, I’d be very interested. Or, if he were a centre, then yes I’d be very interested. Otherwise, I’ll pass. Not giving up the WORLD for a WINGER, when we NEED a centre…and we have Demidov – who projects to have a Robertson-type ceiling.
I love the hab fans they want quality for nothing
We aren’t ruining our prospect depth for players we don’t need and who will have big cap hits. If we were one peice away ang there was a McKinnon available. sure.
Oh, how i would like to. Know who your team, so that we could debate……short terse comments don’t allow that to happen though…..