In the wake of the Toronto Maple Leafs early exit for the fourth year in a row, GM Kyle Dubas faces another offseason of uncertainty and a fan base eager for positive results. In spite of expressing confidence in the club’s core group, Dubas faces a number of decisions necessitated by contracts expiring and a need for improvement. The Leafs got started reshuffling the roster with the trade of Kasperi Kapanen to Pittsburgh last week, but more changes may be coming. One decision that should be fairly simple is whether to bring back veteran Jason Spezza.
The 37-year-old former All-Star signed a one-year league-minimum deal with the Leafs in July 2019 to help provide some experience and leadership following the departure of Patrick Marleau. After some well-chronicled misuse by former head coach Mike Babcock before his firing last November, Spezza played well in a depth role at center and on the wing, scoring 25 points (9 goals, 16 assists) in 58 games averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time per night.
In the playoffs, the Leafs fourth line unit with Spezza, Pierre Engvall and Kyle Clifford played well and saw an increasing role after Game 1 and the veteran forward showed a bit of leadership and willingness to go outside his comfort zone to spark the club when he dropped the gloves with Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan in Game 4.
The Toronto native enjoyed playing in his hometown and indicated in his season ending media availability that he would like to sign another deal to stay with the Leafs.
“I know that I am not the player I once was, but do feel like I can help quite a bit. The fire still burns and I really hope to be back here next year.” Spezza said. “I don’t know where things stand and when you lose, there are consequences. But I would really love a chance to come back with this group and continue to play. We’ll have conversations in the coming weeks to establish where (the Leafs) are in their thought process.”
Spezza’s versatility is something that would make his return quite valuable to Dubas. Assuming he re-signs for another year, the Leafs would have a bottom six forward at $700,000 or something close to that, while re-signing Clifford might cost more than double that amount and Toronto a second round pick as a condition of the trade with Los Angeles.
Evan Rodrigues was acquired as part of the Kapanen deal and gives the Leafs another option as a depth center along with Frederik Gauthier or Adam Brooks at center, but Gauthier is a limited offensive player and an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent after this season, who could be a player exposed for the Seattle expansion draft next June.
Brooks signed a two-year contract extension earlier this summer and is waiver-exempt next season, which could mean that the Leafs will shuttle him between the AHL Marlies and the NHL and give him another year of experience.
Rodrigues also has arbitration rights, but it is likely that Dubas will not qualify him with an offer 10% more than his $2 Million salary last season and will only give him a deal if it is for about half of that.
With the salary cap remaining flat, Dubas may keep his options open in hopes of getting a player or two to take a lesser salary for a spot on the NHL roster, but based on his contribution last season and willingness to take a league-minimum deal, it will be a surprise if Spezza is not brought back.
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