2025 Report Card: Rumors, Selkes, and shootouts. Let's talk about the complete Jason Robertson experience.
We're digging deep today.
Apologies in advance. This one is all over the place. Today we’re covering Jason Robertson’s defense (if it’s real or a statistical illusion), the rumors, the fancy stats, and yes — what makes him so special in the shootout. I know. It’s stuff you probably didn’t ask for. But no player has been the source of more debate, and so I figured I’d write about it…from A-to-Z.
One sentence summary
Dallas is gonna have to buy this one for a lot more than a dollar. (And why he’s worth it too.)
A few good stats
Cap: $7.75 million (Year 4 of 4)
GP: 82
Goals: 35
Assists: 45
Points: 80
Postseason: 11 GP — 4 goals, 2 assists — 6 points
xSPAR: 8.1 extra points in the standings (Rank on the team: 2nd)
Let’s ignore the rumormill for now. In terms of impact on offense, Jason Robertson has few peers. And yes, that includes Mikko Rantanen if we’re only going by the fancy stats — or in this case, goals above replacement. While his skating might not make him look it, Robertson is the complete goal-scoring package: deadly at evens, on the power play, and worse for opponents — he’s disciplined and draws penalties, which is not a skill most Dallas forwards have. We’ll talk more about Robertson’s defense later but what was true this year has been mostly true of the previous two.
Robertson’s offense is literally off the charts. Every conceivable way for a forward to tilt the goal-scoring edge in his team’s favor — goals, the stuff of goals, defense, special teams, and the share of special teams he helps Dallas control — is there. There’s an asterisk, but we’ll get to that.
Thematically appropriate highlight
I’m gonna cheat on this one. Along the Ice is a YouTube channel that gets super granular with player skills, and as such, is worth your time.
It’s also the theme of the day: granularity. Keep in mind, this isn’t directed at all Stars fans, or most, or even the small minority of fans who think Robertson is somewhat expendable. Rather, this is directed at the part of our brain that isn’t able to see the unseen value. Robertson may not look like hockey royalty from a skill perspective, but his success in the shootout is a great example of how absurd his hockey brain is — the way one move represents three, and how he’s able to leverage smarts and creativity into the same raw efficiency that someone like Nathan MacKinnon displays instead with comic-book level speed. Not for nothing, but Robertson was worth more in wins (or WAR) this year than MacKinnon.
While time will tell on Robertson’s future, I hope everyone can appreciate what a unique talent he is.