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Spezza asks for trade out of Ottawa

Jason Spezza

Ottawa Senators captain Jason Spezza speaks to reporters regarding the end of the season in Ottawa on Monday, April 14, 2014. The Senators missed the playoffs this year. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)

AP

Ottawa Senators captain Jason Spezza’s name pops up in trade rumors pretty regularly these days, but it sounds like he might have given his team the go-ahead to move him this summer. At least, that’s what Senators GM Bryan Murray is saying.

Murray confirmed on Wednesday that Spezza asked for a trade, even if it sounds like he doesn’t want to move the talented playmaker.

“There are a few teams that have asked me about him, what the cost is. I suggested at least we’ll have discussions,” Murray said. “I don’t want to trade the guy, really, and I know I won’t get the value, in all likelihood that I should get for him. But I think that Jason feels maybe there’s a change that he would like to have happen, and if that’s the case we’ll try to do what we can.”

If a trade happens, it might take a while. Murray said that a move isn’t likely to happen for a “few weeks.” Beyond that, Murray made it pretty clear that the Senators would prefer to trade him out of the Atlantic Division, if not out of the Eastern Conference altogether.

There has been plenty of speculation about the 30-year-old being moved, yet this is the first time the team or player have acknowledged them as true.

Murray shot down rumors around the trade deadline in March, yet Senators owner Eugene Melnyk thrust Spezza’s name back into the rumor mill in April after the season was over. A little less than a month ago, there were rumblings about the St. Louis Blues being high on the list of teams he’d be interested in joining via a trade.

If you want more details, it appears that Spezza feels as if he’s too often a scapegoat in Ottawa.

Spezza experienced a frustrating 2013-14 season despite scoring 23 goals and 66 points in 75 games.

With a reported maximum of five teams interested and only as many as three showing “serious” interest, it’s understandable that Murray is worried about getting proper value for Spezza.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins