Stars extend Jason Spezza with four-year, $30 million deal
Have you seen the free agent center crop that is set to hit the open market on July 1, 2015? Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill sure did, which is why he worked quick lock up Jason Spezza for the next four seasons.
According to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, the Stars have extended Spezza for $30 million over the next four seasons. He’ll carry a cap hit of $7.5 million.
Spezza is in the final season of a seven-year, $49 million deal he signed with the Ottawa Senators. After showing no inclination that he’d re-sign in Canada’s capital last season, GM Bryan Murray shipped him to Dallas in a July 1 trade. In his first season with the Stars he’s currently second in scoring with 4 goals and 18 points through 20 games.
Even before Spezza’s tenure in Dallas began, Nill was talking extension for his new pivot, saying back in August: “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.”
Spezza re-signing weakens the UFA market next summer, which means TSN and Sportsnet will devote a few more minutes to what a Canadian World Cup team would look like during Free Agent Frenzy.
It also means some players will benefit monetarily since we all know some GMs act like drunken sailors on leave when they have cap space to fill.
Via CapGeek, here are the top 20 point totals for pending forward UFAs next summer through Thursday:
In other words, Antoine Vermette and Nick Foligno are going to get paiiiiiiiiid.
- - - - - - -
Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY:
