He said he wanted to be back and the Toronto Maple Leafs helped grant that request. Monday morning, it was announced that Jason Spezza had re-signed with the team and the Leafs will bring back a veteran depth forward for one more season at a league minimum salary of $700K.
Spezza, 37, has a decent season for the Maple Leafs that didn’t start out so well under former head coach Mike Babcock. Still, Spezza remained professional. Once Babcock was replaced by Sheldon Keefe, Spezza started to settle into a role, often seeing more responsibility as time went on.
He ended with nine goals and 25 points in a bottom-line role which was pretty good considering how things got going and the adversity he battled through. He’ll get a look this coming season in a role where he can contribute out of the gate and it was important the Maple Leafs add more players on inexpensive contracts.
Spezza represents a player who can out-perform his deal in a major way. He could have become an unrestricted free agent Oct. 9. and likely gotten more than this on the open market. That said, he seems to enjoy his role, his teammates and must believe the Leafs have a chance to contend.
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