Spezza's "no-trade" List and Preferred Destination
St. Louis is believed to be Jason Spezza's preferred destination.
The teams on Jason Spezza's no-trade list have been the subject of much discussion since yesterday. TSN's Darren Dreger, speaking on TSN 1260 yesterday listed the six other Canadian teams, in addition to Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and the Columbus Blue Jackets as teams Spezza wouldn't be traded to. However, another TSN employee, Steve Lloyd, suggested Spezza may have left Toronto and Montreal off of his list, knowing the Senators would never trade him to divisional rivals.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Re: Spezza's no trade list. Hearing. Habs and Leafs are not on it. Smart play. That essentially expands his list from 10 to 12.</p>— Steve Lloyd (@TSNSteveLloyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSNSteveLloyd/statuses/479242393808408576">June 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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This morning, Andy Strickland, a Fox Sports Midwest reporter covering the St. Louis Blues, indicated that Spezza's first choice was the St. Louis Blues.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Told Jason spezza's number one choice for a trade is to the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23stlblues&src=hash">#stlblues</a>. Word is he believes he's headed to either STL or Anaheim <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Ducks&src=hash">#Ducks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Sens&src=hash">#Sens</a></p>— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) <a href="https://twitter.com/andystrickland/statuses/479274642062856192">June 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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While both reports are just rumour at this point, the information comes from well-known hockey sources. The news jives with locations which seem to be ideally suited for Spezza and have the assets to make a deal with Ottawa. If St. Louis is indeed Spezza's landing spot, the Blues have enough good young players to make the deal a profitable one from Ottawa's perspective. Perhaps most importantly, if Spezza lands in his preferred destination the likelihood that he re-signs with his new team increases and potentially helps the Senators make a better deal.
