Almost as soon as the Dallas Stars acquired Jason Spezza in a trade with the Ottawa Senators, the Stars made it known that Spezza was not a one-year rental. The club announced that they hoped to keep Spezza in the mix well beyond the 2014-15 season and were ready to negotiate. Spezza wanted to see how things went first and wanted to get comfortable in his new city. Apparently he’s feeling at home as a new report suggests the two sides are close to a multi-year extension.
Insider Trading preview from tonight on @TSN_Sports Centre: Jason Spezza is closing in on multi-year contract extension with DAL.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 18, 2014
Spezza has been skating on the team’s top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin and has been everything the Stars had hoped he would be when they made the trade. Through 18 games, Spezza has three goals and 13 assists for a total of 16 points. His goal production has been down, but no one is going to mind as long as he keeps setting up his teammates.
Spezza, 31, is in the final year of his current contract which paid him an average of $7 million a year over seven years. No details have been reported on the new extension quite yet, but it’s safe to assume his new deal won’t be as long or expensive. Spezza is only a few years removed from his 84-point effort back in 2011-12, but he’s definitely past his prime and the Stars should be paying for the numbers they expect from him moving forward as opposed to the numbers he put up a few years back.
