Jason Robertson reportedly turned down a massive deal from the Kraken

Well, if the Kraken’s “prolific” offseason hinged on landing a particular big fish, then general manager Jason Botterill took a massive swing at doing just that this week… and missed.

According to reporting from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Kraken had worked out a trade with the Dallas Stars for high-scoring winger Jason Robertson. The catch, though, is that Robertson is a restricted free agent and would have needed a new contract upon joining Seattle. So, with the trade in place, Dallas gave Seattle permission to speak with Robertson and his agent, Andy Scott. Again, according to Friedman’s report, the Kraken offered Robertson an eight-year contract worth about $15 million per season.

Robertson rejected the offer.

It’s certainly a crushing blow to Seattle’s offseason plans. You can’t take much bigger of a cut at landing a player than that, and this is the second time Seattle has reportedly offered north of $14 million per year in an attempt to recruit a star, only to be denied. The previous was Artemi Panarin, who reportedly received that offer for two years before opting to go to Los Angeles during the 2025-26 season.

It also serves as another reminder that Seattle is not yet an appealing enough destination for elite players. Once middle-tier players get into the organization and experience how first class everything is, they are often willing to stay (think Vince Dunn, Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, Adam Larsson, and, more recently, Bobby McMann, all of whom have re-upped with the Kraken at least once). But until the team proves it can ice a winning roster capable of supporting those top-flight players, reeling in elite talent will remain a massive uphill battle.

What could have been

Assuming the conversation is now dead in the water, Robertson would have been an incredible get for Botterill. The 26-year-old Arcadia, Calif., native has scored 40 or more goals three times in his still relatively young career and racked up an impressive 45 goals and 51 assists last season for Dallas.

Of course, he’s been just one piece of the puzzle there, whereas in Seattle he would have been the centerpiece. Would he put up those kinds of numbers on a less talented club? Would his addition make the Kraken a Stanley Cup contender?

The answer to that last question is no, so Botterill and the rest of the front office would have had to sell Robertson on the organization’s vision for getting there quickly. Obviously, whatever the pitch was, it didn’t work.

From a fan’s perspective, there are two ways to look at this outcome. Some will appreciate that the Kraken were willing to make such an aggressive play, even if it ultimately failed. It shows the organization is putting its money where its mouth is in trying to quickly improve its on-ice product.

On the other hand, it surely creates even more frustration that the organization has still not built enough of a winning reputation for an eight-year contract that would have been among the most lucrative in NHL history to be enough to land a star scorer.

Where do the Kraken go from here?

Botterill and the Kraken appear bound and determined to land a star forward this offseason and make good on the promises they have made to their fanbase. As the trade frenzy has unfolded this week, though, it feels like many of the significant players Seattle may have been interested in—Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch, and now Jason Robertson—are either off the board or have turned them down. Meanwhile, Frank Seravalli has reported that the St. Louis Blues plan to keep Robert Thomas.

The options for landing top-tier talent are quickly dwindling.

UPDATE: It seems the Kraken are not the only ones who have been rebuffed by Robertson.

Sources indicating the St Louis Blues offered a package that included multiple first round picks to the Dallas Stars for Jason Robertson but he is not interested in signing there.

— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) June 26, 2026