Friday night was a big one for the Dallas Stars as they flexed their offensive muscles against the New York Islanders to the tune of a 5-0 win.
The biggest goal came off the stick of Jason Spezza, who finally broke his 15-game drought to start the season.
Not only did Spezza’s first goal of the season remove the monkey that was getting pretty comfortable on his back, it also may have cooled off some trade rumblings, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
“Prior to [Friday] he hadn’t scored yet and also he was looking at his lowest playing time since he first became an NHL regular and he’d been moved out of centre and onto the wing,” Friedman pointed out during Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada. “I started to hear his name a bit, maybe as a potential trade chip.”
“Now, one thing we should realize is he has full control over his situation—no-move clause during the season. No. 2, he’s got one more year at $7.5 million dollars,” Friedman said. “Just also in researching it, I think Dallas realizes you need offence to win in this league and Jason Spezza can still provide offence.”
Spezza signed a four-year, $30-million deal with Dallas back in 2014. The 34-year-old registered 15 goals and 35 assists for 50 points in 68 games with the Stars in 2016-17—his 12th season hitting the 50-point plateau.
“I think the No. 1 choice is for this to work before they explore to see if they need to make a move or anything like that,” said Friedman.
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