The contractDallas Stars sign Jason Robertson to a one-year contract with a $12 million cap hit.Mark Lazerus: Jim Nill managed to keep Robertson from surpassing Mikko Rantanen’s cap hit, after all. How about that?Neither side here should be terribly happy, which is often the sign of a fair deal. The fact is, all the Stars did was kick the can down the road for another year — another season of Robertson’s pending free agency hanging over their heads, another summer of potentially contentious negotiation. And all Robertson did was take a significant haircut from his actual value, failing to truly capitalize on a career season that should have earned him the biggest and longest contract of his career.But that’s OK. The Stars live in the moment — all that matters is trying to win the Stanley Cup in the 2026-27 season. And their odds of doing so are undeniably better with Robertson on the left wing of the top line. The 2027-28 season is Future Jim Nill’s problem; let him worry about it. Current Jim Nill can breathe a little easier, knowing he didn’t send away promising young forward Mavrik Bourque for nothing. As for Robertson, he clearly didn’t want to leave Dallas, having turned down a trade that would have sent him to Seattle for a long time and a lot of money. He gets to stay, and he gets to negotiate another contract when the salary cap is $9.5 million higher — and when he’ll be an unrestricted free agent, rather than a restricted one. Plus, both sides avoid the potentially fractious process of arbitration this summer. It’s a modest win-win.Of course, regardless of Texas’ tax situation, Robertson signing for $12 million when we’ve seen Leo Carlsson sign for $18 million and Connor Bedard sign for $15 million is borderline laughable. Robertson had his third 40-goal season in just six full NHL campaigns in 2025-26, posting 96 points. Even his two so-called down seasons before that saw him post 80 points each year. Robertson, one of the game’s last true power forwards, is as reliable as they come. He also was Dallas’ best player in the playoffs, scoring five goals in six games in the first-round loss to Minnesota (a series in which Rantanen was largely invisible at five-on-five). Despite all the slings and arrows he took leading up to his Olympic snub, about how one-dimensional he supposedly is, Robertson is actually a quite competent defender and has the underlying numbers to back it up. This is an elite player in his prime, and he’s grossly underpaid. Just not for long.