Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson filed for salary arbitration before Sunday's 5 p.m. ET deadline.
The filing means that Robertson is no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet from another NHL team. Unless he's signed before the hearing, an arbitrator will determine Robertson's 2026-27 contract that will walk him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2027.
Robertson, who turns 27 on July 22, just finished a four-year, $31 million deal he got in 2022 and is a restricted free agent.
The leading scorer on Dallas last season with 96 points (including 45 goals that tied for the team lead), Robertson and the Stars have had a considerable gap in their contract negotiations. Dallas had a sign-and-trade deal in place to send Robertson to the Kraken for the No. 7 pick in last month's NHL draft, but Robertson wouldn't sign a long-term deal with Seattle -- despite a reported offer of $120 million over eight seasons.
"The games don't start until September, and this is part of the contract negotiations," Dallas general manager Jim Nill said in his news conference after free agency started Wednesday.
In total, 15 NHL players filed for salary arbitration before Sunday's deadline. Notable names included Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale and center Trevor Zegras, whose team tendered a five-year offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson on July 3 with an average annual value against the salary cap of $18 million.
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves, who took over as the starter last season and had a .908 save percentage and a 26-19-9 record in 55 games, also filed.
New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider, 24, who averaged 20:27 of ice time last season, the highest of his five-season career, is also on the list. His filing comes one year after the Rangers traded restricted free agent defenseman K'Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Florida Panthers goaltender Akira Schmid, acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights last week to help replace two-time Stanley Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky (who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs), filed Sunday as well. Schmid is in line to back up Jacob Markstrom in Florida next season.
And Nick Robertson, 24, Jason's brother and a forward who was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins last week, also filed Sunday.
The rest of the list, released to the media by the NHLPA, includes Xavier Bourgault of the Ottawa Senators, Kirby Dach of the Montreal Canadiens, Alex Jefferies of the New York Islanders, Peyton Krebs of the Buffalo Sabres, Connor McMichael of the St. Louis Blues, Cole Perfetti of the Winnipeg Jets, Ronan Seeley of the Hurricanes, and Cole Sillinger of the Blue Jackets.