Toronto Maple Leafs: The Worst Idea Is Finding a “New” Jason Spezza
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans really enjoyed the last three years of Jason Spezza’s career.
Playing on a series of one-year contracts at the league minimum, Jason Spezza provided offense and leadership on the Toronto Maple Leafs 4th line and 2nd power-play unit for the last three seasons.
With his great attitude and constant effort, the former 1st line superstar and borderline Hall of Famer, out-performed his contract and provided some great depth down the lineup during his time in Toronto.
But, with that said, he was a healthy scratch in the Leafs best playoff game and it was clearly time to hand up the blades.
All good, except for the inane and annoying attempts by the media to sell us on a “new” Spezza – something that is completely unnecessary.
Toronto Maple Leafs Don’t Need Another Spezza
Whatever role Spezza was playing in the dressing room (and he seemed to be a great leader for a young team) there is no doubt in my mind that Mark Giordano can handle it from now on.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have zero need for an aging former star player to handle fourth line minutes. In fact, getting Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford to leave the organization (despite the fact they each, unfortunately, still have a year on the contracts) would be much more important than adding another vet.
The Leafs need to start breaking in some of their recent draft picks, and what better place to do that then the fourth line? A young, hungry fourth line that can launch anyone successful to a higher place in the lineup is exactly what this team needs.
The Leafs fourth line last year was alright. With Spezza on the ice, they scored two more goals than the opposition, more or less breaking even.
A hungry line full of rookies would be more volatile, less reliable, but give you a much higher ceiling, and a much better chance of dominating the easy minutes (much like Sandin and Liljegren were the best 3rd pairing in the NHL last year).
In the NHL, anyone capable of making is never “that bad” unless they’re a veteran with name recognition (i.e a Marleau, Hainsey or Polak) and so playing rookies on entry-level contracts on your fourth line should be the standard move, as nothing else will give you such a great risk vs reward ratio.
Next. An Obvious Player for the Leafs to Trade For. dark
The Toronto Maple Leafs do not need a “new” Jason Spezza. Sam Gagner, for instance, is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard. It’s time for Toronto to start filling their roster voids internally and not through unnecessary free-agents.