Toronto Maple Leafs: Jason Spezza Doesn’t Need to Play Every Game

The Toronto Maple Leafs are lucky to have Jason Spezza as a veteran figure in their locker-room, but he doesn’t need to play every game anymore

Jason Spezza is now 38 years old and five years removed from the days when he was topping 50 points per season. That’s not to say the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t still get value from him.

However given his age and the fact the Leafs aim to play a game focused on a high tempo movement of the puck, it’s fair to suggest the veteran shouldn’t be out their every single night.

Fact is, while he still definitely has the hockey mind and the hands, his skating does lead to him being left behind a little.

How the Toronto Maple Leafs can make the most of Jason Spezza

The Toronto Maple Leafs can make the most of Jason Spezza by limiting his usage and rotating the cast on the fourth line a little.

It’s worked in recent games with Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds lining up with Colin Blackwell, with the newly-signed Nick Abruzesse also seeing fourth line action too.

Spezza brings the highest value to the team with his abilities in terms of winning face-offs and that he still has the skillset that makes him a valuable asset on the second powerplay unit.

By managing his ice-time and not requiring him to play every single night, the Toronto Maple Leafs can hopefully get the best from him every night he plays.

Rather than having some efforts seem a little lacklustre, purely because he is an older player that needs a little more recovery time. The pace of the game has sped up, simply put.

Regardless of his age, he still brings something to the table. He is on 21 points for the season; not a bad showing for a fourth liner, after all.

He is a valuable option as he gives some additional center depth if required, though is better utilised these days on a wing. The arrival of Blackwell from Seattle gives the Leafs a better-suited option down the middle, generally speaking.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Toronto Maple Leafs is choosing just how many regular season looks to give Spezza in the run-in toward playoffs.

He currently sits just 9 points shy of 1,000 career regular season points – do the Leafs show any sort of sentimentality in this regard?

The choice answer would be no. Given his point total thus far this season doesn’t exactly suggest he can hit the 9 point total in the remaining games, the team shouldn’t risk taking their foot off the gas in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division.

As much as it’s a tough decision; sentimentality has to take a backseat to business. In fact, you’d have to imagine, given his veteran status, that Spezza would absolutely be wanting to put the team over any individual accomplishment.

Jason Spezza still has something to offer the team. They just need to pick the right contests to put him in. The fourth line needs to remain somewhat fluid, which in itself is a bonus for the team.

Against teams that are more likely to throw around a certain degree of physicality; Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford absolutely should be prioritized.

However, against slightly less physical sides or teams running younger players on their bottom-six; putting the wily veteran out there is probably a wiser decision.

It’s really on Sheldon Keefe to keep an open channel of communication with Spezza and simply ensure he’s comfortable with his usage. The last thing the team want is any dissent among the ranks.