The long running question anyone viewing Spezza’s five million dollar pricetag, is how. How is it possible for this team to barely shrug in light of losing its best playmaking center? At what point will they hit a wall, and if they don’t, why is Spezza worth having?
Well, to begin with, Dany Heatley is a different player. When Spezza is in the lineup, Heatley is afforded the right to hover around the net and look for the perfect pass. Without Spezza, Heatley is forced to create more of his own opportunities, and judging by the additional assists he has accrued, make the passes to other players that create scoring chances.
Depth. Ottawa has an immense amount of scoring talent. While they have constantly picked later in each of the last ten drafts, they have taken advantage of some impressive late round talent. With young guns like Chris Kelly, Antoine Vermette, Patrick Eaves, and rookie Nick Foligno, Ottawa has found the secondary scoring they so desperately needed in the finals last season.
Goals against. Ottawa has found themselves sitting at second in the league in lowest goals against with 32, only being trumped by the 9-7-1 Rangers who have a miniscule 30. Sure, this is an important stat for a successful team, but it is unheard of for a team known specifically for their goals for. Martin Gerber is mainly responsible for this impressive statistic, considering he leads the league in wins with 11, and sits strong atop the save percentage leaderboard with staggering .943 overall.
It is obvious Jason Spezza is a huge asset to any team he plays for, but Ottawa has found a way to win without their big three playing together. This could potentially mean a lot less considering they were successful during the mid-season injury Spezza sustained, but if it does in fact represent things to come in the future, I would most definitely expect anyone considering Stanley Cup favourites to have Ottawa on the top of their list.
