Spezza ready to deal

After the Ottawa Senators locked up forward Dany Heatley to a six-year deal, pending restricted free agent forward Jason Spezza tells Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun he’s willing to start negotiations a contract extension.

“I wanted to see what was going to happen with Dany,” said Spezza. “He’s a big part of the team, we’ve had some success together and, obviously, I’m happy they were able to get something done.”

“Now, hopefully, we’ll be able to work something out, but I’m no hurry. I wouldn’t mind letting things go along a little bit here.”

GM Bryan Murray has apparently already held discussions with Spezza’s agent, Rick Curran, about a new deal. Pierre LeBrun of Sportsnet reports that more talks are on the way.

“They envision a really good season out of Jason, so they want to capitalize on that a little bit and I totally understand,” said Murray.

“But at some point in the near future we will talk again.”

According to Garrioch, a league executive has told him that Curran is looking to get his client the same six-year, $45 million deal that Heatley just signed. Spezza would not confirm that rumor, saying his agent takes care of all that.

“I pay him a lot of money,” said Spezza with a giggle. “I sure hope he can take care of that part of the business.”

However, in a capped system, teams may not be able to afford too many $7+ million players. Still, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is committed to keeping the team together.

“We are going to commit all the resources we can to having a championship team every year,” said Melnyk. “It’s one thing to have a team that’s a one-year wonder and then collapses the following year. That’s not something we want do here in Ottawa.”

“I know for sure the fans don’t want that and, certainly, the players don’t want that.”

“This just reiterates my commitment to Ottawa, the fans and the whole organization, but also to the players because I’m going to give them all the resources they need.”

One way for the Senators to make some space under the cap for Spezza’s potential large salary is to let defenseman Wade Redden walk in the summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Redden makes $6.5 million this season, and isn’t likely to take a pay cut to remain in Ottawa.

Should Spezza not ink a new deal by July 1st, he has two options: take the Senators to arbitration, or look for an offer sheet from another team.

According to LeBrun, speculation is that the Toronto Maple Leafs may try to bring the Toronto-born Spezza as a replacement for the aging Mats Sundin by offering him an expensive offer sheet.

In salary arbitration, Spezza could be awarded somewhere between $6 million and as high as $8 million per season.