Dallas Stars center Jason Spezza is 34 years old and playing in his 15th National Hockey League season, while also nursing a lingering back injury stemming from two back surgeries over his NHL tenure. That is no excuse for his early-season struggles, but it feels fair to get that out of the way.
It’s easy to tell that Spezza is on perhaps his last leg as an NHLer, but it’s impossible to predict how fast that time came around. You can’t write off a guy as skilled with the puck – and with as undeniably great of a release – off this quick, but once you lose your wheels, there’s really no getting them back.