Confirmed with Link: Jason Spezza Retires | Will Join Leafs Front Office

[fahad203]

He just needed 5 more points to get a full pension.

He had a 49 million dollar contract with Sens and 30 million with Stars. He made total around 89 million dollars playing hockey

I think he'll be fine without the pension

 

[BertCorbeau]

He had a 49 million dollar contract with Sens and 30 million with Stars. He made total around 89 million dollars playing hockey

I think he'll be fine without the pension

He has also just walked into a job with MLSE in the front office. I imagine he's betting on himself carving a nice post-playing career in management.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

He had a 49 million dollar contract with Sens and 30 million with Stars. He made total around 89 million dollars playing hockey

I think he'll be fine without the pension

It was sarcasm. He doesn't give a shit about 5 more points to be put on some list, he wanted his name on the Stanley Cup.

I don't know. He seems ok'ish with it. I don't think anyone pulled a Babcock on him here, scratching him for his first game for the Leafs that happened to be against Ottawa if I remember correctly.

 

[Maple Leaf]

MVP

 

[fahad203]

It was sarcasm. He doesn't give a shit about 5 more points to be put on some list, he wanted his name on the Stanley Cup.

I don't know. He seems ok'ish with it. I don't think anyone pulled a Babcock on him here, scratching him for his first game for the Leafs that happened to be against Ottawa if I remember correctly.

I also don't think you got my joke

 

[FlareKnight]

Fair to him. I can respect deciding that he'd done all he can and not pushing himself through another season to try and chase a few more points for his career totals. I wouldn't have blamed him for that since he was so close. Plus he's absolutely willed this team to lengthening playoff rounds further than they would have otherwise. Hopefully they can get by without him on the ice.

He tried his best, did what he could to chase the Cup, and it just didn't happen. At least he's got a path forward for himself. Makes good sense keeping him in the organization. Hopefully he gets to watch this team win while he's part of it.

 

[Leafs87]

He has also just walked into a job with MLSE in the front office. I imagine he's betting on himself carving a nice post-playing career in management.

Odd that I just found out Dubas makes around 500,000. I legit thought he made much more. As his assistant I thought Spezza would get all his discount money paid back now that it’s “off the cap” but if Dubas makes 500,000 he probably will only makes line 200,000 or so. Also find it odd that Babcock made like 5 -8 mill depending on what source your trust a season and Burke reported around 5 mill. Why is Dubas so underpaid?

 

[Sammy Kat]

Spezza seems like a smart and management type guy and should fit in nicely.

I just hope he has thought about what happens if the Leafs bomb again next year as that probably ends Dubas and a new GM will clean house and bring in his own people.

 

[Gabriel426]

Class act. Glad he will be part of the MGT.

 

[Alamo Leafer]

Class act. Will be missed on ice.

But I like the move to management with this crew:
Will learn everything there is to learn (on what not to do), to positions himself to become the 1st TML GM to win the cup since 1967.

Clever move

 

[ACC1224]

Class act. Will be missed on ice.

But I like the move to management with this crew:
Will learn everything there is to learn (on what not to do), to positions himself to become the 1st TML GM to win the cup since 1967.

Clever move

Who’s going to teach him?

 

[Stephen]

Not often you hear a player talk about their own choices with such introspection and honesty. Definitely making a difficult choice to end his career on the ice but he’s definitely a genuine guy who is a credit to the organization. Hopefully his success in winning a cup will be realized at some point in the near future.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Odd that I just found out Dubas makes around 500,000. I legit thought he made much more. As his assistant I thought Spezza would get all his discount money paid back now that it’s “off the cap” but if Dubas makes 500,000 he probably will only makes line 200,000 or so. Also find it odd that Babcock made like 5 -8 mill depending on what source your trust a season and Burke reported around 5 mill. Why is Dubas so underpaid?

Coaches like Babcock who have a deep resume and become FA usually get a bidding war for their services and a team like the Leafs have the money to make him such offers. There is only a few coaches that have gotten big money like that.

Dubas was promoted from the AHL, so not exactly a big name.

 

[slozo]

Congrats to Spezza on a great career, on the Leafs we only saw him in his waning years but he was still an extremely good 3rd/4th line skilled player. Was probably an important reason why the Leafs won game 5 after his memorable speech . . . I'm impressed that he was willing to retire before getting the 5 more points needed before 1000 - it speaks to his strong character and pride in not wanting to be "that guy" hanging around just to fill up on points.

Good luck to him in management!

 

[socko]

Spezza seems like a smart and management type guy and should fit in nicely.

I just hope he has thought about what happens if the Leafs bomb again next year as that probably ends Dubas and a new GM will clean house and bring in his own people.

Maybe that's what Spezza is counting on. Allowing him to come back and play on the Leafs 4th line and get 1000 points without ever leaving Toronto. He's playing 4D chess.

 

[banks]

I was a fan of Spezza his whole career. Even as a Sen, I couldn't help but enjoy seeing him play. He was probably the scariest guy on that team back then, just making something happen every shift.

It was a joy to see him wearing a Maple Leaf, and he deserves everything he gets in retirement. You can just tell some players will transition well to a management role. Spezz is one of those guys. I'm just bummed they couldn't get him a Cup while he was still playing.

 

[BLONG7]

Good hire by the Leafs, always like Spezza as a player, good luck to him....

 

[showtime8]

Love the signing of bringing Spezza into the front office.

What a great career.

I wonder if he steps in to a role where he can voice what it's actually like in the room and who he would go to battle with on a nightly basis. Being around for 3 post seasons, he should have some good insights on what they're truly lacking.

 

[killer1980]

We now have one less guy that actually cares about winning.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

I'm glad he's sticking around. Shame he comes up short of a K though.

 

[Sypher04]

I wouldn't hate it if he was our Yzerman or Sakic. Feels like the front office has been light on former NHLers lately so this is a nice add. Sad to see him finish with 995 points though. He came so far in that last season but just didn't make it over the line.

True. Also probably shouldn’t be underrated that he played with this core and will bring those insights to the management group

 

[Clark4Ever]

Class Act, and he provided tremendous value for us relative to his contact.

Glad to see the front office reward him with a position within the organization.

 

[McSnypsky]

Listening to Kyper today, for some reason he seems like he really doesn't like Spezza? interesting

 

[francis246]

Odd that I just found out Dubas makes around 500,000. I legit thought he made much more. As his assistant I thought Spezza would get all his discount money paid back now that it’s “off the cap” but if Dubas makes 500,000 he probably will only makes line 200,000 or so. Also find it odd that Babcock made like 5 -8 mill depending on what source your trust a season and Burke reported around 5 mill. Why is Dubas so underpaid?

Dubas had no leverage when he signed his deal. There were probably better candidates than him out there, more veteran executives. He had some NHL experience as an AGM but he didn’t prove anything plus he was young. The Leafs had the leverage because getting a GM job is hard enough, do you think he was gonna pass that up just to maybe earn $1,000,000? Also I’m not sure how much you think GM’s make. I’d assume Dubas is probably in the upper half of GM’s paid in the NHL.

 

[ToneDog]

Odd that I just found out Dubas makes around 500,000. I legit thought he made much more. As his assistant I thought Spezza would get all his discount money paid back now that it’s “off the cap” but if Dubas makes 500,000 he probably will only makes line 200,000 or so. Also find it odd that Babcock made like 5 -8 mill depending on what source your trust a season and Burke reported around 5 mill. Why is Dubas so underpaid?

You get what you pay for. I'd do the job for 1/4 of what Dubas makes. LOL.