FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Stars opened training camp Thursday with both Jason Robertson and Thomas Harley on the ice after offseason deals that would have sent the two homegrown standouts elsewhere fell apart. Dallas had agreements in place to move its leading scorer and its young top defenseman, but neither trade was completed.
Robertson returns on a $12 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration, coming after Dallas had a sign-and-trade framework with Seattle during the NHL draft in June. The 27-year-old, the Stars' 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2017 draft, did not agree to a reported $120 million, eight-year offer ($15 million per season) from the Kraken. "It feels like another day, as if nothing ever happened and we're back at it," Robertson said after the first practice. "I want to be present. ... When I'm out here, it feels like the most of where I belong, on the ice playing."
Harley's near-move involved a package with Mavrik Bourque to Columbus for Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, but Werenski exercised his no-trade clause to remain with the Blue Jackets. Bourque was instead traded to Nashville at the start of free agency. Harley, 25, the 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft, is entering the first season of an $84.69 million, eight-year extension he agreed to last November. "I've always known that this is a business, but for the first time it really affected me that way, so it was a stressful week for sure," said Harley, who later spoke with general manager Jim Nill and coach Glen Gulutzan. "We're all on the same page, I want to be here, they want me here, so it's all good. ... No hard feelings." Nill said, "I've already talked to him and then we move on," adding that Harley is a big part of the team, a sentiment he echoed about Robertson.
Robertson has averaged more than a point per game across six full NHL seasons with 490 points (213 goals and 277 assists) in 456 regular-season games, including playing all 328 games the past four years. He led Dallas last season with 96 points (45 goals and 51 assists) and added five goals with three assists in six playoff games, becoming a restricted free agent after his third 40-goal season closed out the $31 million, four-year deal he signed after a training camp holdout in 2022. Under NHL rules, Dallas cannot sign him to an extension before Jan. 1, leaving him positioned to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time next summer if no deal is reached. "Just playing, that's when I'm most comfortable not thinking about it," Robertson said about the contract situation. "I had to deal with it last year, kind of dealt with it four years ago."
The focus now shifts to the ice after Dallas endured its longest offseason in four years, knocked out in the first round last season after three consecutive trips to the Western Conference Final. Robertson's $12 million salary for 2026-27 matches forward Mikko Rantanen for the highest on the Stars. Rantanen is entering the second season of the $96 million, eight-year extension he signed to facilitate the deadline trade that brought him to Dallas from Carolina in March 2025.