The Pittsburgh Penguins have not moved into a full rebuild under president and general manager Kyle Dubas for now.
Franchise icons Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are under contract for the 2026-27 season, and Dubas keeps looking for ways to add NHL talent around them instead of putting an end to this two-decade-long era of Penguins hockey.
Pittsburgh has also collected picks and prospects lately while waiting for a landscape-altering player to become available, and that might be the case as Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson has yet to sign a new deal with his franchise.
The Stars winger is coming off a 45-goal, 96-point season and has reached at least 80 points in four straight years. He became a restricted free agent on July 1 after completing a four-year, $31 million contract with a $7.75 million average annual value.
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Robertson filed for salary arbitration on Sunday, making him ineligible to sign an offer sheet. That means Pittsburgh would need a trade with Dallas, and likely a sign-and-trade structure (so they can extend the contract length up to the maximum eight years), to acquire him.
According to The Athletic’s Josh Yohe, the Penguins are interested in acquiring Robertson as they consider him a solution for the present and the future of the franchise.
“The Penguins are still very much open to acquiring Robertson, whom they believe could be a short- and long-term building block for president/GM Kyle Dubas’ vision,” Yohe wrote.
On top of that, Yohe added that Pittsburgh believes Robertson could be open to the move and to sign a long-term deal with the Penguins.
“The Penguins, as previously reported, believe there is a real chance Robertson would agree to play in Pittsburgh,” Yohe wrote.
The Penguins recently acquired Robertson’s brother, Nick Robertson, from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he filed for arbitration on Sunday, along with Jason. Yohe reported that the move “doesn’t figure to hurt the cause,” and could entice the Stars player to join his brother in Pittsburgh.
The bigger obstacle, however, remains Dallas. Yohe reported that the Stars are still hoping to sign Robertson long-term and that Stars general manager Jim Nill has not allowed talks with Pittsburgh to become serious.
If Dallas changes course, Yohe reported Dubas “won’t hesitate to make a substantial offer.”
