The trade talk involving the Maple Leafs defense has been centered mostly on team captain Dion Phaneuf (whose seven year, $49 Million contract extension kicks in on July 1) and Jake Gardiner, who is a restricted free agent with the expiration of his three-year entry-level contract, but according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Leafs have been receiving inquiries on defenseman Cody Franson.
Leafs have trade offers on the table for Franson. So far, none acceptable. Preference is to re-sign him.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 19, 2014The 26-year-old blueliner took a step back in all aspects from his breakout 2013 season, where he led the Leafs in defensive scoring with 29 points and was second in playoff scoring with six points. Franson barely managed to eclipse his offensive totals from the lockout shortened season(5G, 28A in 75 games) in 2014 and struggled mightily in his own end, with a club worst -20 plus/minus.
Franson is a restricted free agent and the report from Dreger indicates that the Leafs are not receiving what they believe is fair value in exchange for the big defenseman, so their preference is to re-sign him. While the BC native was exposed defensively last season and may not be suited for a top-four role, his value as a power play point man and his ability to get pucks on net make him a valuable commodity.
A contributing factor in interest in Franson is being a right hand shot and his contract status. The upcoming free agent class is thin and blueliners like Matt Niskanen and Anton Stralman are expected to be overpaid this July by teams anxious to add right handed defensemen. Franson has two more years before qualifying for unrestricted free agency and should make only slightly more than his $2 Million salary from last season, while Niskanen could make as much as $6 Million per season on the open market.
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More speculation popped up on Wednesday regarding potential trade interest for Phaneuf, this time involving the Washington Capitals. CSN’s Chuck Gormley reports the new Caps GM Brian MacLellan is looking for a defense partner for Mike Green and has made numerous inquiries amongst the league’s GM in pursuit of that goal.
An offer of Washington’s 1st(13th overall), forward Marcus Johansson and/or defenseman Dmitri Orlov might be sufficient to get Phaneuf from the Leafs, but Gormley reports that the Caps could go the free agent route to address their needs. He also indicates that the Hurricanes may be dangling center Eric Staal and that the Oilers would part with forward Sam Gagner or former first pick Nail Yakupov in a Phaneuf deal.
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An interesting tidbit in an interview with Leafs GM Dave Nonis, courtesy of the Toronto Sun's Steve Buffery.
When asked if there had been any thought of moving the defensively challenged Jake Gardiner to forward, the Leafs GM indicated that the club did think about it and could consider it in the future.
"He(Gardiner) was a forward, he started as a forward. He played more of his formative years as a forward." Nonis said. "There’s been some talk of it, but I think he gives us an element at the back end that would be hard to replace. He can skate the puck out, pretty good on the power play. So I think right now, we would keep him back there, but ..."
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NOTE - From now until the middle of July, you can expect numerous updates throughout the day with the latest rumors and news.
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