OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators put an end to speculation and officially named Jason Spezza as its captain Saturday afternoon. The announcement came as no real surprise as Spezza was the odds-on favourite to take over the captaincy after Daniel Alfredsson chose to sign with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent in July. "This is a huge honour for both myself and my family," said Spezza, as he read from a prepared statement. "Its something that is very important to me." Spezza becomes the eighth captain in franchise history and admitted wearing the "C" is a dream come true. "For me Ive always dreamed of being a captain," said Spezza, who missed most of last season with a back injury. "My main goal is to try to win the Stanley Cup and thats something that Ive always wanted. I take the game of hockey very seriously and I like being able to help my teammates. "I like being able to push myself and try to become a better player everyday." Being the face of the franchise is an honour and a challenge that Spezza says he is looking forward to. Spezza said that having had the opportunity to play alongside Alfredsson and experiencing the highs and lows of a professional career have allowed him time to grow as both a player and a person. "I feel like its come naturally, I feel like its not something thats been forced upon me and that gives me the confidence to know that I can do a good job." With over 600 games and 621 career points, Spezza is the second longest serving member of the Senators. Chris Phillips, who was also in strong contention to take over the captaincy, holds the distinction of being the longest serving member. Phillips will remain an alternate captain, with Chris Neil joining the leadership group as the second alternate. Both Neil and Phillips were drafted by Ottawa and have spent their entire NHL careers with the Senators. "The Ottawa Senators have a history of strong leaders, strong captains and we believe that will continue today," said Senators general manager Bryan Murray. "This years team we believe will be one of the youngest if not the youngest in the NHL so having a strong leadership corps headed by our captains is going to be very, very critical if were going to be successful." Head coach Paul MacLean admitted the fact that Spezza has spent his entire career in Ottawa was a significant reason the team selected him as the new captain. The 30-year-old Spezza was the Senators first-round pick (second overall) in the 2001 NHL Draft. He has registered four 30-goal seasons and two 90-plus point campaigns. The Mississauga, Ont., native has represented Canada on six different occasions, and has earned five medals at various international tournaments throughout his career. 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Randy Johnson Jersey .com) - Nate Buss 3-pointer with 5.The Toronto Raptors got a couple of pieces from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a veteran with a contract that will be bought out. Numbers Game looks at the deal that brings Lou Williams to the Raptors. The Raptors Get: SG Lou Williams and C Lucas Nogueira. Williams, 27, has been a productive scoring guard off the bench for much of his career, but he struggled last season, posting his worst Player Efficiency Rating (PER of 14.24) since his rookie season of 2005-2006. Williams shot 40.0% from the field, including 342% on threes, his worst in both categories since 2008-2009, so hes not exactly at peak value. Three times in his career, including in 2012-2013, Williams has averaged better than 14 points per game, yet hes come off the bench in 500 of his 554 career games. Hes a perimeter player who is taking fewer two-point shots. Last season, Williams took 4.3 twos per game, compared to 3.9 threes and his 3.0 free-throw attempts per game was his lowest since 2006-2007; these are signs of a player who isnt getting to the rim. Defensively, Williams is below average; a shooting guard in a point guards body, he doesnt have the physique to handle stronger guards, nor the height to deal with bigger guards. Williams does have quickness and can use that to his advantage but hes consistently rated as a subpar defender. Despite those limitations, Williams can be a useful second-team gunner and theres room for that in the Raptors rotation. Williams is going into the final year of a contract that pays him $5.45-million in 2014-2015. Taken with the 16th pick in last summers draft, Lucas Nogueira is a skinny 7-footer who, as might be expected, has potential as a shot blocker, but the Brazilian they call "Bebe" is considered raw, not unlike the Raptors first-round pick in this summers draft, Bruno Caboclo, who also happens to be Brazilian. Playing in Spain for Estudiantes last season, Nogueira put up 6.dddddddddddd points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in 16.0 minutes per game. He turns 22 this summer and could still use time to develop, but is a nice upside play for the Raptors. Nogueira has a contract with Estudiantes that runs through next season, so that will give him additional time to round out his game before worrying about how he might fit into the Raptors plans. The Hawks Get: SF John Salmons. Salmons is a 34-year-old swingman whose best days are well behind him. He hasnt shot 40% from the field in the past two seasons, and shot a career-low 36.3% from the field last season on his way to scoring 5.2 points per game, his fewest since 2004-2005. Hes showing the wear and tear of playing 874 career games. Salmons can still knock down a three, but hes no longer quick enough to get to the basket, nor is he quick enough to defend wings effectively. This could very well be the end of the line for Salmons. The value to the Hawks is that Salmons has a $7-million contract that only requires a $1-million buyout, leaving the Hawks with lots of room to maneuver as the NBA free agent market gets into full swing. Carmelo Anthony, Luol Deng and Lance Stephenson could be among the more appealing wings that the Hawks may try to lure with more than %15-million in salary cap space. This is a case where the Hawks got what they were after, increased cap space, and the Raptors got a few assets in return for providing it. Williams offers some immediate help, and is a trade chip with an expiring contract if the season goes awry, while Nogueira presents some upside for the long run. As it stands today, the Raptors are a better team for having made this trade. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '