On February 15, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Cody Franson and forward Mike Santorelli to the Nashville Predators for their 2015 first round pick and prospect forward Brendan Leipsic.
How good that deal(which was primarily the work of former Toronto GM Dave Nonis) turns out may not be known for a few years, but based on how Franson and Santorelli played for Nashville and what the Leafs did with the additional first rounder, the Blue and White appear to have a distinct advantage.
Franson scored 32 points(6 G, 26 A) in 55 games playing on the top pairing and first power play with Dion Phaneuf prior to the trade, but with the Preds played mostly on the bottom pairing and no special teams, scoring only 4 points in 23 games.
Santorelli was sixth in scoring with 29 points (11 G, 18 A) in 57 games for Toronto at the time of the trade, behind Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Franson and Nazem Kadri, but similarly struggled in Music City, with four points in 22 games and one goal in four playoff games.
Both players did not re-sign with Nashville and remained free agents until Monday, when Santorelli signed a one-year, $875,000 deal with the Anaheim Ducks. The versatility of the 29-year-old Santorelli to play both center and wing will give Anaheim some flexibility, who appear set up the middle with Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Andrew Cogliano, Nate Thompson and Rickard Rakell.
The big right-handed shooting blueliner missed out on the big money bonanzas that Andrej Sekera and Mike Green found in free agency this summer and reportedly is still holding out for a multi-year deal after signing three straight one-year contracts with Toronto.
Nashville’s first rounder ended up 24th overall after being eliminated by Chicago in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Toronto traded down with Philadelphia to get an additional second round pick, which turned out to be USNDP forward Jeremy Bracco, who is ranked the 39th in the top 100 NHL Prospects by ESPN’s Corey Pronman.
The Leafs traded down once again with the pick they acquired from the Flyers to get their own second round pick(Erie Otter defenseman Travis Dermott) and a third round pick(Latvian junior Martins Dzierkals) from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Leipsic finished in the top 10 of AHL rookie scoring with 54 points(14 G, 30 A) in 74 games with Milwaukee and Toronto last season and is ranked 97th by Pronman.
Toronto turned two expiring contracts into four young prospects, which is likely the formula they will follow this season, as Shawn Matthias, Nick Spaling, P-A Parenteau, Mark Arcobello, Roman Polak and James Reimer all become unrestricted free agents next summer.
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Joffrey Lupul is looking forward to the challenge of playing for new Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock, but it will not be a new experience for the veteran winger.
Lupul played 75 games as a 20-year-old rookie under Babcock in Anaheim in 2003 and remembers his dedication and preparation to his craft.
“I was a rookie and I remember him being tough on me but he was very fair." Lupul said to
reporter Kyle Cicerella. "If a guy deserves to play more he’ll play more, no matter if he makes $700,000 or $5-million dollars. As a player that’s the number one thing you can ask for.”
The 31-year-old struggled last season with 10 goals in 55 games, mostly due a pair of significant injuries. After finishing 27th overall, off-season changes were expected and Lupul was not surprised to see former line mate Phil Kessel traded.
“When you lose 20 of 25 games to finish a year you can’t just bring the same team back,” said the 31-year-old winger." Lupul said. “I guess you can kind of say the axe fell on Phil, or whatever, but it was going to be someone. Phil’s a great player and he’ll have a lot of success in Pittsburgh.”
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