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Leaf Rumours

I love that Kadri only had a good 48 game season and needs to prove himself, but Franson was awesome for 7 games so he is better than Phaneuf and completley irreplacable.

The guy almost blew game 7 for us and only played against 3rd and 4th lines all season.

He showed some very nice things for sure. But thats it.

He no Phaneuf. Gardiner was way better in the playoffs. And Gunnar has been a much better dman for a long time now. On top of that we have a top 5 pick and one of the top prospects in hockey and a guy that was a top pairing dman not to long ago. He's easily replacable without making a move.
 
Franson should have filed for arbitration. Now as an RFA, his hands are tied and he can take it or leave it. If he leaves it, he sits out unpaid.
 
Yeah, short memories for sure.

The guy ended up with more regular season points than Phaneuf, didn't he? And then he was by far and away the most physical and complete dman in the playoffs.

Phaneuf, Gardiner, and Rielly will all play similar games. Gunnarson is also like them, but just not as good. Franson brings a totally different skill set and has become an uber reliable right flank on the back end of the PP unit.

Sure, let's trade all that for a late 1st.
 
It's funny, in the playoff series, Phaneuf played against the Bergeron line to start, and he shut them down completely. In the meantime, the Krejci line was killing the other 2 pairings. Then Phaneuf was moved to the Krejci line later in the series and slowed them down and the Bergeron line started to get it going against the other 2 pairings.

Make no mistake, Phanuef is the Leafs best overall dman, by a long shot.
 
Phaneuf played against the toughest compeition in the league, and Franson played against one of the weakest. Barely outscoring him is more impressive for Phaneuf than it is for Franson.

And Phaneuf's game isn't anything like Rielly and Gardiner. He's a big physical, shut down dman with a heavy shot. Not a skater that controls the game with his feet.

And Gunnar isn't like any of them. He's just a solid, reliable 2 way guy, that will do the dirty work.

Last year franson was nothing more than a PP specialist. And he is arguably their 3rd or 4th best weapon on the blueline in that respect.

Such odd perceptions of these guys.
 
hockeylover said:
How the heck do you figure we don't have anything in the organization that can replace what Franson brings to the table? We have that in spades. Phaneuf, Gardiner, Rielly all can replace what he brings to the table offensively, if not more. Franson had a good year but he's not at all irreplaceable moving forward.
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It's the blend of offensive ability and physicality that he brings to the table is what does it for me. The only guy we have who does that is Phaneuf, who granted does it better overall, but neither Gardiner, nor Rielly bring that physical element to the game that having a 6'5 230 pound behemoth brings.

I wouldn't want to lose Franson for a random 1st round pick either.
 
MindzEye said:
It's the blend of offensive ability and physicality that he brings to the table is what does it for me. The only guy we have who does that is Phaneuf, who granted does it better overall, but neither Gardiner, nor Rielly bring that physical element to the game that having a 6'5 230 pound behemoth brings.

I wouldn't want to lose Franson for a random 1st round pick either.
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Do I want to lose Franson for a late 1st? Nope. Is Franson better than Phaneuf and irreplaceable? Not even close, IMO.
 
I'd trade Gunnarsson before Franson if we had to move out some money on the blueline.

Even with Phaneuf, Gardiner, Rielly -- there's still room in the top 4 for Franson. And that would be one awesome top 4. Both Gardiner and Rielly would get to play with a big, physical, mobile defender. Looks pretty ideal to me.

JUST PAY YOUR BEST PLAYERS.
 
In fairness if Franson is indeed forced out due to cap space and offersheeted it wouldn't be just for a 1st. It would essentially be Clarkson and a 1st. Or Bernier and a 1st. Or Bozak and a 1st. Or Bolland and a 1st.
 
Gunnar is reliable though. You can throw that guy out there against anyone. He doesn't make mistakes like franson did in game 7.

Franson is completely potential in that sense at this point in his career. He has a ton left to prove before we can actually call him one of our best defenders. Last year he was a heavily sheltered bottom pair guy who has historically had problems in his own end. The level of competition he played against was so poor that Mark Fraser looked like a defensive stud. Think about that for a second.

Don't get me wrong, I like the guy and would rather have him that not have him. But lets not get carried away.
 
If an offersheet even happens (unlikely), Nonis still has the hammer if he's unsatisfied with the pick.

Can you sign a one year deal and an extension all in one negotiation?
 
I was pretty sure the rule was if you signed a 1 year deal you had to wait until January to negotiate an extension. Could be wrong on that.
 
I'm sure a handshake agreement could be made, and an extension announced in January if this is the case.
 
Franson was primed for a breakout as a Predator, but was stalled by the trade and subsequent crappy training camp with the Leafs.

In a system like Carlyle's the guy could turn into a really good two-way defender.
 
All this talk about Franson and his mistakes is comical.

He made one glaring error that led to a goal and then he immediately scored the next goal.

How many glaring and costly errors did Phaneuf make?
 
I really like franson after last year - he was much improved right off the bat last year, with a huge jump in physical play and aggressiveness all over the ice. U don't really want to lose him.

Thing is, with rielly ready and ranger/finn/percy in the fold, we're going to be moving some dman by next year at the latest.l, and franson makes sense to be the guy moved.

I mean let's be honest - aren't we all kind of hoping that he holfs out long enough to give rielly a shot?


That being said, it would be way way way better to move liles.

Gunnar - phaneuf
Gardiner - franson
Rielly - ranger
Finn - percy

Is just a great group of talent to have going forward. Keeping them all for at least the next few years is ideal, and doable.
 
And i still think its comical how burke and wilson got themselves fired because they wouldn't play franson, kadri, and reimerinstead of a bunch of literally non-nhl calibre players, and i understand completely why franson thinks he's getting a raw deal.
 
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