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Cody Franson

GhostofPotvin29

New member
This is probably the best he's looked as a Leaf and Mirtle has an article today arguing for why he should be a top priority.

Franson has had a fantastic start to the season, and that?s a problem for the Leafs. He is a big, right hand shot who is only 27 years old, and he produces better than most, as evidenced by the fact he?s tied for 12th in NHL scoring among defencemen.

Franson has also grown into a top pairing role, logging 275 of his 348 even strength minutes (80 per cent) alongside captain Dion Phaneuf so far this year.

Despite those minutes and some tough situations, when Franson has been on the ice, the Leafs have been a 50 per cent possession team, nearly 4 per cent better than when he?s on the bench.

He drives play, and more than ever, teams are looking for that.

Why that?s a problem is he will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1, and some team is going to look at all of the above and back up a Brink?s truck full cash to his home on Okanagan Lake this summer.

A few things are immediately apparent when you look at this year?s UFA class. No. 1, there?s not much there. Of those that are there, Franson has more goals than all of them. He has more points than all of them. He plays more minutes than most of them. And he?s younger than just about all of them, too.

Notice a pattern?

Add in the fact he?s a righty ? an increasingly valuable commodity given more than 63 per cent of defencemen in the NHL are lefties this year ? and there?ll be a lot of suitors desperate to shore up perhaps the trickiest position to shore up.

That?s a list that includes the Leafs, given their depth chart after Franson currently consists of Roman Polak, Stephane Robidas, depth prospects and minor leaguers.

Save moving Phaneuf (a lefty) back to the right side, they?ll need someone there, too.

...

Management could sell it as a new regime under new president Brendan Shanahan that had seen the light and that wanted Franson, along with Morgan Rielly, to help anchor the blueline for years to come.

Offering some sort of leadership role and the chance to wear a letter, even down the line, would also make sense.

He has that potential.

In that situation, it?s plausible Franson would take a discount from the homerun he will hit on the open market. How big that discount might be is tough to forecast, but if the Leafs can get him under contract with reasonable term and for under $5-million a year, they need to strongly consider it, especially with Monday?s news that the cap is expected to rise into the $73-million range.

A lot has been made of how tight the Leafs cap situation is, but they could shoehorn Franson in, even without radical restructuring. More foresight would have been better, as they could have had him under contract for less had they bought in long term earlier, but it can work, even at that kind of number, especially if they follow through on plans to play RFA hardball with Jonathan Bernier and Nazem Kadri.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/mirtle-why-the-leafs-should-make-re-signing-cody-a-top-priority/article22001549/
 
I see no way he comes in less than $5M. I'm also less hopeful about any sort of discount. It's easily arguable he took discounts the last two seasons already.
 
Bullfrog said:
I see no way he comes in less than $5M. I'm also less hopeful about any sort of discount. It's easily arguable he took discounts the last two seasons already.

Yeah. I'm kind of on the fence about re-signing him for that very reason. Without moving out another significant salary, re-signing Franson at what he's likely to end up with could easily mean the Leafs can't make any real improvements to their roster next season. He's also going to be a very valuable trade chip at the deadline if the Leafs are on the outside looking in.
 
Bullfrog said:
I see no way he comes in less than $5M. I'm also less hopeful about any sort of discount. It's easily arguable he took discounts the last two seasons already.

He does genuinely seem to want to play here though. Skipping arbitration that one year would indicate he's not just here for the money. Who knows.

I agree with Mirtle though, if they can get him at or under $5mil they need to get the deal one. One thing the article doesn't mention though (or at least it's not in the snippets) is that Franson can't officially sign anything until January 1st because he's on a 1-year contract.

I still wonder what the Leafs plan is for their defence. They can't run Phaneuf-Gardiner-Rielly on the left side long-term. Rielly is going to need a bigger role soon. One of them needs to move over to the right, with Phaneuf being the obvious candidate.

Rielly-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Franson/Polak
Percy-Polak/Robidas

So we'll likely see one of Franson/Polak/Robidas leave.
 
bustaheims said:
Bullfrog said:
I see no way he comes in less than $5M. I'm also less hopeful about any sort of discount. It's easily arguable he took discounts the last two seasons already.

Yeah. I'm kind of on the fence about re-signing him for that very reason. Without moving out another significant salary, re-signing Franson at what he's likely to end up with could easily mean the Leafs can't make any real improvements to their roster next season. He's also going to be a very valuable trade chip at the deadline if the Leafs are on the outside looking in.

I think as the season moves along, hopefully the decision to either sign or cut bait on Franson becomes more apparent.

Obviously, if the Leafs fall into another downward spiral, and finish outside of the playoffs, it should make the decision easier to trade him away. But, if he is playing like he is now, and they make the big dance, I have to think he finally gets his big payday in Toronto.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Bullfrog said:
I see no way he comes in less than $5M. I'm also less hopeful about any sort of discount. It's easily arguable he took discounts the last two seasons already.

He does genuinely seem to want to play here though. Skipping arbitration that one year would indicate he's not just here for the money. Who knows.

I agree with Mirtle though, if they can get him at or under $5mil they need to get the deal one. One thing the article doesn't mention though (or at least it's not in the snippets) is that Franson can't officially sign anything until January 1st because he's on a 1-year contract.

I still wonder what the Leafs plan is for their defence. They can't run Phaneuf-Gardiner-Rielly on the left side long-term. Rielly is going to need a bigger role soon. One of them needs to move over to the right, with Phaneuf being the obvious candidate.

Rielly-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Franson/Polak
Percy-Polak/Robidas

So we'll likely see one of Franson/Polak/Robidas leave.

Honestly speaking, I see Gardiner going before Franson. Reilly is just as offensive and better defensive. IMO
 
The one thing they can't do is let him leave for nothing.

He is a big Leafs fan, but even a 5 year $25 million contract with the Leafs probably has him leaving 12.5 on the UFA table, if he gives them a sweetheart deal they really should build him a statue.
 
At some point and relatively soon, the team is going to have to open a spot for one or two of the promising prospects. There has to be some payoff to being in the Leaf system
 
Highlander said:
At some point and relatively soon, the team is going to have to open a spot for one or two of the promising prospects. There has to be some payoff to being in the Leaf system

That's not how you do it though, good teams wait until prospects force them to open a spot because they are ready to come in and be impactful players, there is pretty much nobody in the Leafs system that is 'there' yet, NYlander being closest.
 
Patrick said:
Highlander said:
At some point and relatively soon, the team is going to have to open a spot for one or two of the promising prospects. There has to be some payoff to being in the Leaf system

That's not how you do it though, good teams wait until prospects force them to open a spot because they are ready to come in and be impactful players, there is pretty much nobody in the Leafs system that is 'there' yet, NYlander being closest.

I dont expect to see NYlander for a couple of years . IMO Percy and Holzer are going to push that point before that.
 
Highlander said:
At some point and relatively soon, the team is going to have to open a spot for one or two of the promising prospects. There has to be some payoff to being in the Leaf system

There really isn't anyone who looks like they'll absolutely have to be in the lineup full-time for next season, so there's some time for that. Polak's contract expires after next year, so, that opens up a potential spot for someone to hopefully claim by then. And Robidas only has 2 more years left on his, and, realistically, that's when the current D prospects will really be at the point where they'll be full-time guys. This is a situation where the Leafs can follow the Detroit model, and wait until their prospects are more than ready to make the jump before they give them a roster spot.
 
freer said:
I dont expect to see NYlander for a couple of years . IMO Percy and Holzer are going to push that point before that.

Holzer's a UFA this summer. He's long past prospect status. Really, he's basically already what he's going to be in the future - a bottom pairing type. He's not going to be pushing any of the Leafs' current defencemen off the roster. Percy, on the other hand, is still probably a season or two away from really forcing a decision.
 
bustaheims said:
freer said:
I dont expect to see NYlander for a couple of years . IMO Percy and Holzer are going to push that point before that.

Holzer's a UFA this summer. He's long past prospect status. Really, he's basically already what he's going to be in the future - a bottom pairing type. He's not going to be pushing any of the Leafs' current defencemen off the roster. Percy, on the other hand, is still probably a season or two away from really forcing a decision.

I don't see Nylander in the NHL prior to gaining 15-20 lbs so he can survive. IMO
 
freer said:
I don't see Nylander in the NHL prior to gaining 15-20 lbs so he can survive. IMO

Plenty of smaller players have survived and thrived in the NHL. He'll be fine, and, considering how he's dominating the Swedish league right now, he'll almost certainly be good enough to make the Leafs next season.
 
Highlander said:
I would hope a priority right now is putting 20 Lb of muscle on the upper part of that norse frame.

Becoming top heavy like that is not beneficial. If he's going to add 20 lbs, most of it needs to be in his legs.
 
bustaheims said:
freer said:
I don't see Nylander in the NHL prior to gaining 15-20 lbs so he can survive. IMO

Plenty of smaller players have survived and thrived in the NHL. He'll be fine, and, considering how he's dominating the Swedish league right now, he'll almost certainly be good enough to make the Leafs next season.

I don't how many times this size myth has to be dispelled before we stop hearing that every <200lbs player can't make it in the NHL.
 
freer said:
Honestly speaking, I see Gardiner going before Franson. Reilly is just as offensive and better defensive. IMO

I don't think Rielly's quite there yet, but he's only 20 years old (4 years younger than Gardiner.)
 

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