When the Dallas Stars acquired Jason Spezza in a trade with the Ottawa Senators, one of the concerns was that Spezza would take off as soon as he completed the final year of his current contract. Trading for Spezza appeared to be a risk due to his advancing age and the possibility that an extension wouldn’t develop and the organization would have paid a hefty price for a one-year rental. The Stars made it clear that they hoped to keep Spezza around and that they’d be negotiating an extension.
Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill believes that very extension will come to fruition. As seen over on the Dallas News, Nill thinks Spezza will be with the Stars for years to come.
Nill’s take on the situation:
“I think it’s going to happen. I’ve talked to his agent. We want Jason and his family to move in here. I think once we get him in here, get training camp rolling, I’ll sit down with his agent some more. When we made the trade the vision was he’s going to be a Star for a long time. It wasn’t just a six-month stop.”
At 31, Spezza definitely has some solid years ahead of him. Still, it’s going to take a very attractive offer to keep Spezza in Dallas beyond 2014-15. That poses a risk for the Stars. The club has made some strong acquisitions and they’ve built a quality roster without breaking the bank. As he heads into the final stages of his career, Spezza is going to want a sizable contract. If the Stars elect to grant that wish, they should wait to do so until after 2014-15. The worst move the Stars could make is to hand out a huge extension only to see Spezza disappoint in 2014-15.
Stay tuned. It seems likely that the Stars will try to retain Spezza beyond the current season, but they’ll have to do so in a way which won’t jeopardize the organization’s future.
