2 early Stars trade candidates after 1st-round loss to Wild

The 2025-26 NHL season was a strong one for the Dallas Stars. They once again eclipsed the 50-win mark and earned the second overall spot in the Central Division behind only the rival Colorado Avalanche and ahead of the Minnesota Wild.

However, there were plenty of fans of both the Stars and Wild – as well as neutral observers – who were not thrilled with the fact that the second and third-best teams in the division had to face off against one another in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Ultimately, it was the Wild who took series leads of 1-0 and 3-2 before dispatching the Stars in the sixth game of the series in St. Paul.

For the Wild, it was their first opening-round playoff victory in exactly 11 years. Meanwhile, for the Stars, it brought an end to a streak of three straight trips to the Western Conference Final, and it was a bitterly disappointing end to a season that carried so many heavy expectations.

“It’s frustrating, for sure,” said defenseman Miro Heiskanen via The Dallas Morning News. “I don’t know if it’s concerning. I think we have a great team, and we have been close. We’re not going to win every year. It’s a hard thing to win. We have to learn from this and get better. I think that’s the only way. You’re not going to win every year, but obviously you want to get to the finals and get the Cup. But everyone else wants to do that, too. There’s great teams out there. Just have to get better.”

Forward Matt Duchene also commented on the end of the season, noting that the series really could have gone either way.

“It felt like every time we made a mistake, it would end up in our net,” he said. “It wasn’t for a lack of trying to score. We just didn’t get the bounces that we needed, and they did at times, and at big times. That’s a heck of a team. They played really well. And I thought tonight was a pretty even game. They had the first, we had the second, and the third was as toss-up. They just got the last bounce off a skate and in. Kind of sums up the series.

With the season over, there are a handful of candidates who could find themselves on the move at some point in the next few months before the start of next season. What are general manager Jim Nill’s next moves?

Is the Jason Robertson era over for the Stars? 

Now that the Stars have been eliminated from the playoffs, perhaps the largest question on the minds of Dallas – and opposing – fans is the fate of pending restricted free agent forward Jason Robertson, who had another highly productive season.

Robertson scored 45 goals with 51 assists for the Stars this season, marking the third time in his career that he’s reached the 40-goal plateau. However, he remains without a contract for next year.

It may be unpleasant, but the thought of trading Robertson, especially given the pending salary cap and roster crunch for his club, has likely crossed the mind of Nill. Not only is he due for a major raise on his current salary cap hit of $7.75 million, but giving him such a contract could also hinder the ability of Nill to address the depth scoring issues that hurt them in their playoff series loss to the Wild.

If they’re unable to make any progress on a new contract, Nill could choose to capitalize while Robertson’s trade value remains sky high after another 40-goal season and retain multiple assets in return as compensation for the loss of an offensive leader.

Struggling defenseman Tyler Myers was a healthy scratch in Game 6

As part of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, Stars GM Jim Nill went out and acquired towering defenseman Tyler Myers from the lowly Vancouver Canucks, sending a 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 fourth-round pick to Vancouver in return while also agreeing to retain half his salary.

However, Myers’ postseason with the Stars was anything but memorable. Not only did he take a careless penalty early in Game 1, but the Wild immediately scored on the ensuing power-play for the first tally of the series. Additionally, he was a healthy scratch for the decisive Game 6 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul for his club’s elimination.

With Myers on the ice, the Stars were outscored 5-0 at even strength and 7-0 overall. He has just one year left on his contract and didn’t meet expectations after being acquired in what Dallas had envisioned as a deep playoff run. And at age 37, he doesn’t fit into the club’s long-term plans.

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