UPDATE - 10:45pm
The Globe and Mail's James Mirtle reported early Sunday evening that there are indications that Franson and the Leafs could reach a deal before Monday's hearing, splitting the difference between the two amounts submitted to the arbitrator.
I still believe Leafs intend to move Franson though. Lot of decisions up in the air, even come training camp.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) July 20, 2014If that occurs, an offensive blueliner making close to a $3 Million salary could be an attractive commodity on the trade market in exchange for a winger that could bolster the Leafs forward compliment or a draft pick which would free up more cap room for Toronto to sign one of the few quality free agents not yet signed.
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Maple Leafs management will be focused the next 24 hours on the arbitration hearing of defenseman Cody Franson, who submitted an amount of $4.2 Million for his 2014-15 salary, while Toronto put forth an offer of $2 Million.
If the Leafs tactic is to negotiate a deal prior to Monday’s hearing, the $2 Million figure makes sense from a haggling perspective, as their next move will be to offer a compromise around $3 Million, which Franson would likely accept. If the intent is to go all the way, the Leafs would appear to not have a great case against their leading defensive scorer the last two seasons.
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Columnist Steve Simmons reports in Sunday's Toronto Sun that the talk of Florida GM Dale Tallon trading the first overall pick was contingent on them getting a first rounder back in the deal high enough to select Leafs top pick William Nylander.
The 18-year-old winger will be at the Leafs rookie tournament in London, ON in September, but it is likely that he will return to Modo in the SHL for another season rather any of three options in North America(NHL, AHL or OHL).
Even if Nylander plays in Sweden this year, he will likely be making a trip to Canada as a member of Team Sweden for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship being held in Toronto and Montreal in late December.
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Calling winger David Clarkson’s debut season in Toronto a disappointment would be the greatest of understatements, but the 30-year-old winger sees no value in dwelling on most troubling year of his career and is hoping to rebound next season.
“It’s not a secret, right? At the end of the season, I obviously wasn’t happy,… Clarkson said to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox “No season goes the same, so you have to find a way to figure things out. So I went back to work right away and have been training as hard as I ever have. That’s what you have to do. There’s no summer where you train less than the one before. You look at how things went and work from there.…
Clarkson’s five goal output in 2013-14 broke a five-year string of scoring in double figures and with the departure of Mason Raymond, Dave Bolland and Nikolai Kulemin, Toronto is depending on Clarkson to provide some secondary offense to take some pressure off of top liners Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak.
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