Puck to groin a small price to pay for second-year man Jason Robertson

The sophomore slump is real.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have a cute name like that.
And when you think about it, there's probably no better candidate for a second-year hiccup than Jason Robertson. He seemingly came out of nowhere last season, he was pushed into his minutes because of injuries to Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov, and he was pulled along by two very good linemates in Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz.

So, yeah, if you're looking for a guy who might see a decrease in scoring, Robertson might be your guy.
Until you look a little closer. Then you see a player who has all the physical tools to be a fantastic NHL player, and who has learned a great deal in the past 15 months.

"At the start of last year, he wouldn't have done that," Stars coach Rick Bowness said after Robertson battled through an unfortunate shot to the groin to score a goal Wednesday in a preseason game against Florida. "It hurt to score a goal, but he hung in there. Those hard areas, if you want to score in this league, you have to go to the hard areas, which he wasn't doing when he first started last year, but as the season went on, he got much better at it."
Because of the COVID bubble, Robertson spent the 2020 playoffs embedded with the Stars. The second-round draft pick from 2017 didn't play one game, but he soaked up two months with the team and watched 27 games of high-intensity postseason action. When he returned last season, he was in a good place to put the lessons into action.
After a sputtering start that included a few healthy scratches, Robertson was given a chance to play when Radulov suffered an injury. His minutes went from 11 to 16 to 20 over the span of three months, and his points started to pile up. By the end of the year, he was the runner-up for the Calder Trophy and had scored 39 points over the final 39 games.
And while it would be easy to dissect the numbers and say he was fortunate or simply found a nice run, the truth is Robertson became a much better player. He learned how to win puck battles, he learned how to read the game and his linemates, he learned how to be consistent.
"Just watching him, you could see the development," said linemate Joe Pavelski. "It was fun to watch."
The progress wasn't completely unexpected. After all, he led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring in 2018-19 with 117 points (48 goals, 69 assists) in 62 games. He followed that up with 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) in 60 games in his first season in the AHL. The guy does have a pedigree. He's listed at 6-3, 200, so his body can do what his mind wants it to.
The one criticism of Robertson's game growing up has been his skating, but he said he feels last season put those questions to rest.
"I think it's just the way I am," he said. "Obviously, you can work on skating forever, but it didn't slow me down from last year. You can't really say my skating is holding me back anymore."
In fact, his first preseason game was an example of just how strong he is on his skates. He battled to draw the penalty that led to his powerplay goal, and he showed the same tenacity throughout the game in hunting the puck and helping the Stars keep possession.
"He's far more involved physically and he understands the game at this level more now," Bowness said. "You have to compete. It's a man's game out there."

And Robertson looks like a man at age 22. He followed last season's NHL campaign with a trip to the World Championships in Latvia, where he tallied nine points (five goals, four assists) in 10 games for Team USA. All that experience makes you believe that what he did last season wasn't a fluke, and that there's no need to fear a sophomore slump. That said, the coaches have told him to be ready for even more intensity this season.
"We talked to Robo right after the season about that second year," Bowness said. "Everyone knows who you are now, the matchup changes on the road now. You're not against the third pairing, you're against the best D, so you have to play through those things, and you have to grow and learn from them."
It's been a year of growth. Last season, his thoughts in training camp were whether he'd have to return to the AHL or possibly be a member of the taxi squad. This year, he's bought a house and has a place on the team's deadliest line.
"Going into camp, it's a different perspective," he said. "You're trying to play on the team, not wanting to make the team. I'm trying to embrace that and feel confident in that."
So far, so good. And, in fact, the elevated expectations could make him even better. After all, he's responded to every challenge he's faced so far.
"You get better with experience, and you get better playing against the best players in the league," Bowness said. "I'm confident we're going to have a better season from Robo."
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.