Dallas Stars owner completely disrespects top player Jason Robertson in recent interview (AUDIO)

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Dorin Canaday
August 31, 2022 (0:17)

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The Dallas Stars still have two remaining restricted free agents on their roster. Neither Jason Robertson nor Jake Oettinger has come to terms with the club on a new contract yet. After recent comments from the Stars owner, they might not be particularly close either.

Stars' owner Tom Gaglardi joined the Cam & Strick Podcast crew to share his thoughts on how contracts are handed out today. Gaglardi was asked the following question:

''Okay. So how do you look at contracts in the NHL today? Because, you know, it wasn't too long ago where you know, kind of had to establish yourself before you got paid the big time money. Now, these kids coming out of entry-level contracts, man, they're getting, they're getting paid big time money as well, and you got a couple of young guys in Jason Robertson and, of course, Oettinger, your goal to enter.''

�'I mean, how do you look at that? Because you've rewarded the veteran guys. Do you feel comfortable handing it over to a young guy? How do you approach it?''

This question has plagued many General Managers around the league with the shift in pay allotment. Gaglardi gave the following answer:

''You know the two big things that have changed. I think in the last few years, you know, the absence of the second contract. And so you see, the kid in the third year of his entry-level deal puts up 40 goals. Now he wants to make seven million. So and you know, if you want term with that player, he's gonna take you higher than that. So, so that's a big change.''

�'And you know, what's really happening is, the stars are taking all the money, and the guys in the middle are getting squeezed. So the, you know, the differences are, you know, the veterans? The veterans who don't score a lot are getting squeezed. And, you know, I don't like it. I think there's a lot of players in the league making a million dollars who are better players. And then the guys who can put the puck in the net are getting, you know, too big, too big, a piece of the pie.''

Probably a good reason why the Stars are on a downward trend and a weird statement by the ownership of a team that has one of the best prospect pools in the NHL.

Last year, Robertson scored 79 points in 74 games, including 41 goals. He was also 1 of only 3 players to score more than 25 goals for the Stars.

The idea that more money should be paid to replacement-level talent is what plagues many teams in a salary cap era. The concept of overpaying depth players to keep star players' salaries down is a wild concept and shows how out of touch the Stars' owner is. Not to mention sharing the contract asks of his best player will likely be frowned upon by Robertson and his agent.

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