page_title: Jason Spezza
section_title: Dallas Stars
hierarchical_section_title: Jason Spezza / Playing career / Professional / Dallas Stars
caption_attribution_description: Spezza in October 2014.
context_page_description: Jason Rocco Anthony Spezza is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. He has also played in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Dallas Stars.
  After beginning his major junior career at the early age of 15 in the Ontario Hockey League, Spezza was selected second overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, eventually serving as their team captain following the departure of Daniel Alfredsson. Playing in the American Hockey League in 2004–05 due to the NHL lockout, he won the Les Cunningham Award as league MVP with the Binghamton Senators. In 2005–06, Spezza set an Ottawa Senators franchise record with 71 assists, while hitting the 90-point mark for the first of two times in his NHL career.
  Internationally, Spezza has represented Canada at three World Junior Championships and two World Championships. When he made his World Junior debut in 2000, he became just the third 16-year-old in history to make the team, behind Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros.
context_section_description: On July 1, 2014, Spezza was traded to the Dallas Stars (along with Ludwig Karlsson) in exchange for Alex Chiasson, Alex Guptill, Nick Paul and a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. On November 21, Spezza signed a four-year contract with Dallas (effective from the 2015–16 season through to the 2018–19 season) worth an annual average value of $7.5 million. He recorded 17 goals and 45 assists in 82 games in his first season with the Stars, as they missed the 2015 playoffs. His offensive production improved the following season, scoring 33 goals in 75 games as the Stars qualified for the 2016 playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference.
  On October 30, 2018, in a 4–1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, Spezza played in his 1,000th career NHL game.
caption: Spezza with the Dallas Stars in 2014
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