Spezza re-signs with the Leafs

[herman]

That, and a lot of luck.  The plan is working.

That's basically every team that wins the Cup. Tampa was probably the most inexorably dominant team in the last little while and it still took them over half a decade to get it done.

Fun thing:
Leafs: core is young, but under team control, albeit expensive in some cases. On the rise, despite some disappointing results and fan despair over narrative (our own EBUG!).
Tampa: cap hell, but the core is still intact, albeit aging. Can only trend downward.
Boston: old AF, other than McAvoy and Pastrnak; great structure though. Trending down.

[RedLeaf]

That, and a lot of luck.  The plan is working.

That's basically every team that wins the Cup. Tampa was probably the most inexorably dominant team in the last little while and it still took them over half a decade to get it done.

Fun thing:
Leafs: core is young, but under team control, albeit expensive in some cases. On the rise, despite some disappointing results and fan despair over narrative (our own EBUG!).
Tampa: cap hell, but the core is still intact, albeit aging. Can only trend downward.
Boston: old AF, other than McAvoy and Pastrnak; great structure though. Trending down.

Yeah. It certainly feels like its rapidly becoming the Leafs time to bask in the spotlight. Whether or not that translates to the ultimate prize is still uncertain, but the window is open now.

[CarltonTheBear]

Jason Spezza, resigned 1 x $0.7M by TOR, thrived with the Leafs and was one of the league's best 4th line centre last season. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/KEvCc1DGpG

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 5, 2020

Kind of a random aside, but Spezza probably played just as much on the 3rd line as the 4th line this season. And when he was on the 4th line he primarily played wing with Gauthier at centre (with the caveat that positions are fluid in the ice of course). I think he very rarely actually lined up as 4C.

[herman]

Kind of a random aside, but Spezza probably played just as much on the 3rd line as the 4th line this season. And when he was on the 4th line he primarily played wing with Gauthier at centre (with the caveat that positions are fluid in the ice of course). I think he very rarely actually lined up as 4C.

C'est vrai. Leafs tend to play centre-pseudocentre pairs anyway. Still nice to see his defensive impacts in low-leverage situations still tilted our way, via puck control.

The Leafs probably still want more bottom-six players that can soak up the occasional hard minutes against other top-6 in boring mode.

[herman]

jason spezza ❤️ pic.twitter.com/47mneV9jcY

— rahef 🌷✨ (@rahef_issa) October 5, 2020

Peepers on some of the names we no longer have on our cap sheet

[Guilt Trip]

No complaints on this move. Spezza was a steal last season and will be again. Simmonds next please for 1 mill or less. Dubas to Simmonds. Look, Spezza just signed for 700K because he wants to join his hometown team and play with great players. Shall I draw up the same contract for you?

[herman]

Dubas said he and Spezza sat down post-bubble to discuss future with #Leafs, and then Spezza spoke with Sheldon about his role. All around, just seemed like a great fit to carry on with - "He desperately wants to win, for obvious reasons."

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) October 5, 2020

[herman]

Can we retain him as a coach after he retires? I think we have to.

Dubas lauds Spezza for his veteran help: "He's willing to spend as much time as young players want" improving their play.

— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) October 5, 2020

[Guilt Trip]

Can we retain him as a coach after he retires? I think we have to.

Dubas lauds Spezza for his veteran help: "He's willing to spend as much time as young players want" improving their play.

— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) October 5, 2020

Now they will have him and Maholtra working with the kids.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Haha seriously. Imagine telling Leafs fans 10 years ago that signing Jason Spezza would receive unanimous support from the entire fanbase.

Or even 1 year ago.  I certainly wanted no part of him.

[Bullfrog]

Glad to see him back!

[Significantly Insignificant]

I kinda liken Spezza coming to the Leafs to Bryan Trottier finishing his career with the Pens.

[princedpw]

jason spezza ❤️ pic.twitter.com/47mneV9jcY

— rahef 🌷✨ (@rahef_issa) October 5, 2020

Peepers on some of the names we no longer have on our cap sheet

Herman, do these numbers pass the smell test for you?  Does Kerfoot really have the 2nd best even strength offense on the team?  Is Tavares the team?s worst even strength defender aside from Kapanen?

[herman]

jason spezza ❤️ pic.twitter.com/47mneV9jcY

— rahef 🌷✨ (@rahef_issa) October 5, 2020

Peepers on some of the names we no longer have on our cap sheet

Herman, do these numbers pass the smell test for you?  Does Kerfoot really have the 2nd best even strength offense on the team?  Is Tavares the team?s worst even strength defender aside from Kapanen?

It's a model for one thing, so it's just taking raw inputs and applying modifiers based on situation, stripping external influence, and gauging against the league overall. By and large, this is what I kind of expected from what I saw throughout the season.

Tavares' numbers get tanked a bit from the time he spent with early season Marner, Kapanen + injury/recovery. The defensive issue jives with what hockeyviz's model shows for Tavares as well

I think his lines got scored on a lot for reasons that didn't entirely seem to be related to the forwards.

Kerfoot didn't put up as many points as we would've liked, but he consistently drove play into the offensive zone from my viewings. I don't know precisely which metrics go directly into EVO, but I think CF and all the in between up to GF/60 is a pretty big part of it. Kerfoot was top 5 in GF/60 at 5v5 of our forwards that played real minutes.