No. 5: Jason Spezza
This should be the No. 1 selection, but that would be way too obvious. Jason Spezza is 99.9 percent returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs and I don’t think he’s retiring until this team wins a Stanley Cup.
Besides William Nylander, Spezza was the most consistent forward with the Leafs during the playoffs. Although it’s great to see him perform so highly, he shouldn’t have been one of the team’s top players.
Spezza gave the team everything he had, but the star players couldn’t help him out. He did his part tremendously well, and the Leafs should have advanced in the first round because of it. Instead, their season was cut short, as they now watch the Montreal Canadiens enter the Final Four.
Over the past two seasons, Spezza’s game has aged like fine-wine, but one of these years that’s bound to stop.
However, the Leafs should continue to re-sign him until that happens because his $700K contract is one of the best deals in hockey right now.