Is the summer the time to finally dump Spezza!

[Burrowsaurus]

hey but Kyle 'I have never hit 60 pts' Turris and Mika 'I am 5-8 years from my prime' Zibanejad are going to lead the offense

"1a and 1b"

 

[Burrowsaurus]

How about the team gets better defenders. And the forwards keep scoring goals. And voila!

 

[SilverSeven]

It says his evaluations aren't bad at all. Spezza's going to be 35-38 by the time his next contract is done, and it's unlikely he'll have become some two-zone whiz in that time. Turris is already a pretty decent two-way guy, has somewhat of an edge and can score 20-30, assist on another 30-40. He's also shown to be clutch in the post-season.

Turris really is a better fit. His age means he'll be growing here for the next five to ten years and his salary isn't a detriment. He already has chemistry with two new acquisitons, can kill penalties, can be deployed at all times. That sounds like a 1B or 2A centre to me...

Turris has been playing with the two best wingers (by far) that this team has all year, and is STILL being outproduced by Spezza...who is admittedly having an off year.

 

[SilverSeven]

"1a and 1b"

I think you mean 2 and 3. At least on a decent team.

 

[SilverSeven]

30 isnt old in the nhl. 35 probably is which is still a while away


it is funny cause Hemsky is 30 and everyone wants to sign him.

Dan Boyle is 38 and people want to sign him

Not to mention that 40 year old we let walk in the summer. That caused quite a stir.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

All this talk about a 31 year old being almost finished is making me depressed

I just turned 30

Then I think of Alfie who had his best years in his 30's and I feel better

In fairness, there are a bunch of posters here who haven't finished going through puberty so to some of them 30 probably does seem ancient

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

30 isnt old in the nhl. 35 probably is which is still a while away


it is funny cause Hemsky is 30 and everyone wants to sign him.

Dan Boyle is 38 and people want to sign him

It all depends on the player.

If the majority of players in the league had their best years over 30, we probably wouldn't see more than two or three guys in the league who are under 21.

We have to remember, Alfredsson and Selanne are exceptions to the rule, not the standard.

 

[Magix]

It was more 'age' calling but whatever.....

You're reading me wrong, though, or simply not reading. I am quite aware of Spezza's flaws and never tried to gloss over them. The problem is that when defending a player against the over-the-top negative biases on here it inevitably makes a person look like they can't see his flaws. I argue the positives because it's the contrary position obviously, and given that there are few posters here that one can have a reasonable discussion with about Spezza, it makes it all the more difficult to have a rational conversation about his flaws.

My position, and annoyance with posters like yourself, stems not from loyalty to Spezza personally, but rather from a team perspective. We are a better team with a player of his calibre on it, than we are trading him away for the plugs you guys throw into proposals. We aren't going to get a younger, better player for him, we'd get a bunch of young shots-in-the-dark that make us worse immediately, and likely no better in the future (rookies and picks are far more likely to never be even close to as good as Spezza).

Not only that, but we already have a ton of quality prospects that need NHL time, and some should already be on the team. Trading Spezza to add MORE of these types means that we have to get rid of some since we don't have space, so we try and trade a few players for someone better; which is the exact opposite from what we just did with Spezza, and are unlikely to be as good a player as he is anyways.

Spezza is our best offensive player and is a league star, I'm happy to check that box off and move on to the other pieces that we need to win. We all know his flaws, and we've all seen him and the team have great success when we add players that compliment each others' skills and weaknesses. Players are starting to develop chemistry together in critical places, real life isn't like the video games where you look at player ratings, throw them together, and away we go! This team is better now, AND going forward with Spezza and Hemsky building on their already marvellous play, then we are trading Spezza for a lesser package, and watching Hemsky walk.

I hope that makes sense to you now, see I don't have favourite players, I have a favourite team.

The thing is, I really thought spezza turned the corner in 11-12, he played responsibly while carrying michalek and greening. He looked like he matured and was the next captain in line. Flash forward to the next season, injury problems return and he is gone for most of the season. Comes back for the playoffs where he played fine.

And here we are in the present season, he is the captain of a crappy team but to be fair there are plenty of morons to share the blame for this horrible season. But the thing that just killed me was he went back to floating, he wasn't the spezza that finally got it in 11-12 or was starting to mature under clouston. He reverted back to his old habits for most of the season.

How do you measure "life dependency" on the way someone plays. And you're right. Spezza isn't Malkin toews or Crosby. Neither are 8 hundred and whatever other players in the NHL hockey league. And guess what. That list includes Turris and zibanejad as well as jason spezza.

Just stated he's an excellent first line center but then go on to say he isn't a core peice. First line centers are usually (always) core peices.

He still is an excellent player in the right situations. I currently don't see Ottawa being the right place for him. Dumb coach, dumb owner not willing to spend to compete, and lots of bad players (which could be attributed to age, compete level and lack of talent).

hey but Kyle 'I have never hit 60 pts' Turris and Mika 'I am 5-8 years from my prime' Zibanejad are going to lead the offense

Turris is on pace for slightly lower than 60 and zibanejad a little lower than 50. I don't mind rolling with 2 way centres in our top 6 while trading spezza for a package that can help us now and down the road.

The bottom line is I don't think this team will win anything with whatever prime years spezza has left.

 

[StefanW]

The bottom line is I don't think this team will win anything with whatever prime years spezza has left.

I don't believe the Sens should trade Spezza for many reasons. However, you nailed the key issue from an organizational standpoint on the head. If the organization is set to compete next year, which they promised when Murray was re-signed, then there is no chance that Spezza is traded. If management looks at where we are and decides that it is time to cut bait, then Spezza will be gone at some point next season.

My opinion is that management will continue to believe they are only a couple of pieces away from contending, or at least that is what they will sell to the fans. I don't believe ticket buyers are going to react well to starting another rebuild when the current one is supposed to be ending right now. BM is also unlikely to start a fire sale in the last year of his GM career unless we are totally tanking at the tread deadline.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

I don't believe the Sens should trade Spezza for many reasons. However, you nailed the key issue from an organizational standpoint on the head. If the organization is set to compete next year, which they promised when Murray was re-signed, then there is no chance that Spezza is traded. If management looks at where we are and decides that it is time to cut bait, then Spezza will be gone at some point next season.

My opinion is that management will continue to believe they are only a couple of pieces away from contending, or at least that is what they will sell to the fans. I don't believe ticket buyers are going to react well to starting another rebuild when the current one is supposed to be ending right now. BM is also unlikely to start a fire sale in the last year of his GM career unless we are totally tanking at the tread deadline.

Solid points. Another thing to consider, if the Sens are going to rebuild, do they want a GM who is close to retirement spearheading it then bailing a year or two in?

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I think you mean 2 and 3. At least on a decent team.

I was quoting some fans when spezza was laboring.