Zach Hyman is returning to the Maple Leafs this weekend and the team has made the first two of three moves to open up his roster spot. And more importantly, be able to afford Hyman’s contract upon his return.

With Martin Marincin and Nic Petan on waivers today, that accounts for two of the three roster spots the #leafs have to clear in order to activate Zach Hyman this weekend.

Jason Spezza, Nick Shore and Dmytro Timashov are among the candidates for the other.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 7, 2019

So now what, where do the Maple Leafs go from here?

Tonight’s game against Vegas will have some indication but if it was up to Mike Babcock, Jason Spezza would be the one to go. For Spezza, it couldn’t be a more frustrating situation as the veteran had multiple offers and for more money on the table this offseason and chose Toronto, so he could come home and play a role on a Stanley Cup contending team. Unfortunately for him, Mike Babcock doesn’t want him to play any role on his club. Zero. Zilch. Notta.

Here’s why Mike Babcock isn’t a fan of Jason Spezza’s game:

1. Babcock likes his 4th line centre to be his best penalty-killing centre on the team

2. Babcock doesn’t think Spezza’s skating ability is still good enough for the league

3. Spezza is offensive-minded, Babcock prefers his 4th line centre to think defence first

I am not going to bore you as I could list off 14 more things including the stick Spezza uses. Think about it this way, Babcock much prefers the Brooks Laich, Dom Moore and Brian Boyle’s of the world, for his fourth line, over the slow-dangles and risky passes of Spezza’s repertoire.

It just really sucks for Jason Spezza because there’s a very good chance he gets waived in a couple of days, after giving the Maple Leafs a home town discount, all because Mike Babcock thinks Nick Shore is a better fit for the Leafs.

Let me hear, “THAT AIN’T RIGHT”.