Rasmus Sandin leads list of restricted free agents waiting on NHL deals

It is getting late early for a small selection of restricted free agents in the NHL.

Though these players, who of course remain beholden to their current clubs, are not back to work on an official basis with training camp still a few weeks away, they are nose to the grindstone in preparation without a contract in place for the upcoming season.

As always, each are held up for their own reasons. Some demand big money on top of term. Others want a quick turnaround before their next contract negotiation. One might just want clarity.

Here’s the situation facing the big-name restricted free agents still waiting to see what the biweekly deposits will look like throughout the season.

Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars

Robertson is the biggest name league-wide waiting on a new deal. He scored 41 goals last season in the final year of his entry-level contract, which places him in the elite tier of NHL snipers — at least provisionally. Therefore, he’s an obvious candidate for a significant investment from the Stars.

The problem is two-fold. Dallas has a fairly sizeable amount of money promised to big-name forwards. But perhaps most importantly, the Stars are experiencing some significant buyer’s remorse when considering those agreements with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, specifically.

There is enough money laying around to presumably satisfy Robertson’s needs but, from an organizational standpoint, the Stars seem reticent to meet what would be considered market value. Stars owner Tom Gaglardi appeared to lay that out — and without much hesitation— in a recent appearance on the Cam and Strick Podcast, where he complained about the disproportionate amount of money being carved out for the star players league-wide.

“.. Kid in the third year of his entry level puts up 40 goals, and now he wants to make $7 million,” Gaglardi said,…