Stars' Spezza on whether pressure of captaincy made it easier to leave: 'It's bogus'

Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray was tasked with trading his capatin just a year after losing captain Daniel Alfredsson to free agency.

Jason Spezza was a career Senator before requesting a trade this summer, with all of his 11 seasons spent in Ottawa. 

Spezza joined Ian Mendes on TSN Radio 1200 Friday afternoon and was asked if the pressure of being captain made it easier for him to leave the organization. Spezza was quick to shut down that suggestion.

"That's bogus to me," he said. "If anything having the 'C' made me think even harder about wanting to stay because I didn't want to seem like I was running away."

He continued, "I knew it was time to move on and I think they knew the same thing."

Spezza wants to be on a winning team and he wants to be a part of a Stanley Cup championship. In his mind, that's a goal the Dallas Stars are closer to achieving than the Senators.

"I think the organization is going through a different period and probably a little bit more of a rebuild," he said. "For me I felt that in the place in my career, where I'm at that I wanted to move on somewhere else and get a fresh start for myself."

Spezza maintains the deal works better for both sides as their goals are no longer in line with one another. Although leaving was a tough decision, it was one he needed it make for himself.

"I knew that I had asked to be moved... as tough as it is to move on. It probably would've been the easier thing to re-sign [in Ottawa]."