Well… my regular blog (complete with Sunday Shots) will be coming in a couple of hours… this interruption brought to you by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Nashville Predators…
The Nashville Predators went all Blues Brothers today as they put some of the band back together by bringing back Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli to the organization. The trade sends recent perma-scratch Olli Jokinen, prospect Brendan Leipsic and a first round pick to Toronto.
First, let’s talk what’s going out… Olli Jokinen never really fit in to Peter Laviolette’s system. It could be a speed thing, but Jokinen struggled, perhaps it will be a chance for him to set himself up for another contract next season, which most definitely would not come in Nashville. That’s a good thing…
Fiesty prospect Brendan Leipsic goes to Toronto. Small, talented, speedy and tries to play bigger than his body, which sometimes gets him in trouble. Leipsic is one of quite a few smallish forwards in the Predators system so he was a bit expendable… you have to give to get, so… OK.
A first rounder… if it ends up being number 30… well… we will deal with it.
Coming Nashville’s way… a couple of players that Pred Nation knows…
Mike Santorelli never seemed to be able to crack the Nashville lineup on a consistent basis but has made a name for himself in Toronto. The Laviolette system should play to his strengths and give the team more depth at forward as Santorelli can play all three forward positions.
Cody Franson – coveted by quite a few teams looking for a right hand shot from the blueline. Offensive minded defenseman that should blossom in this system. Franson owns one of the more memorable assists in Predators history in game five of the Anaheim series (thanks to Jim Diamond for the reminder of that one.)
Surely more to come…