The St. Louis Blues are one of the frontrunners to acquire centre Jason Spezza, and it would appear the Ottawa Senators captain has the Blues on his radar as well.
According to Andy Strickland of Big 550 KTRS in St. Louis, the Blues are Spezza’s top choice as a potential trade destination.
Spezza has spent his entire career with the Senators, but asked to be moved earlier this month. The Anaheim Ducks are another team reportedly interested in Spezza.
The Blues will likely lose Derek Roy to free agency and are looking for an offensive centre for an added scoring punch, which would help David Backes and Patrik Berglund. The Ducks, meanwhile, hope to take some pressure off Ryan Getzlaf, and adding a player of Spezza’s ilk would do just that.
Spezza has one year remaining on a seven-year deal he inked back in 2007 — his 2014-15 cap hit is $7 million, but he’s only set to be paid $4 million in salary. The 30-year-old also has a modified no-trade clause that allowed him to submit a list to the Senators of 10 teams he does not wish to be traded to. It’s believed the teams on Spezza’s no-trade list are the six remaining Canadian franchises, plus the Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers.
The second-overall pick from the 2001 draft registered 66 points, 46 penalty minutes and a minus-26 rating in 75 games last season. He has amassed 687 points in 686 career regular-season games with the Sens, plus another 52 points in 56 post-season appearances.
