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It’s not often you hear a player come right out and say that he’s negotiating with a certain team. Not by name, anyways. But that’s exactly what free agent defenseman
Cody Franson did the other day in a radio interview, admitting that the Boston Bruins are one of the teams he’s in talks with.
“They're one of the teams that we're in talks with,” Franson said in a radio spot with TSN 1040 (Vancouver) on Tuesday. “Boston would be an interesting spot. It's obviously an awesome city, and they've got a great organization and all those things that come with it. There are a handful of other teams too, and everything is just kind of slow rolling at the moment, and we're taking it day by day.”
Franson also noted that he’d like a multi-year deal (he noted that he’s ‘sick’ of one-year contracts), but that his camp hasn’t set an exact year or dollar frame that they’re looking at as a must have.
“We haven't said a number and we'll take nothing less, or a term and we'll take nothing less than that,” Franson said. “We just said in a certain ballpark. Nobody has laughed at us. Everybody has thought it was reasonable. It's just one of those things that some teams we're talking to are in cap crunches and some teams don't want to go maybe as long. It's a number of different circumstances.
“Hopefully something happens sooner than later."
In 78 games between Nashville and Toronto last year, the 27-year-old recorded seven goals and 36 points, with 17 of those points coming on the power play. Most of that production came during Franson’s pre-deadline tenure with the Maple Leafs, though, as Franson was a mere bit player during a late-season run with the Predators, recording one goal and four points in 23 regular-season contests and two helpers in five postseason contests. Still, there’s a number of suitors for the 6-foot-5 defender.
And with nobody biting on Franson’s desire for a multi-year contract or financial requirements just yet, and with Franson mentioning Boston by name, this sorta just seems inevitable at this point, doesn’t it?
Given the offseason departure of
Dougie Hamilton (something Franson mentioned in his interview on Tuesday), the right-handed Franson would make sense for the B’s top-four and second power-play unit. His experience (400 games at the NHL level and 28 playoff contests) would be a welcomed sight for a
Claude Julien defense corp that’s probably a bit too young for his liking.
But how high will the Black and Gold go when it comes to a contract with the Sicamous, B.C. native?
With a bit under $5 million in cap-space at their disposal, the Bruins have some funds to work with. And although general manager
Don Sweeney has noted that the B’s remain a ‘cap team’ and will spend the money if they want to, cap space has become such a rarity in the Hub that spending it all before the season even -- immediately after digging yourself out of a mess, no less -- begins seems like an easy no-go for Sweeney and the Bruins. Even if it means saying no to Franson in the now.
Nobody has scoffed at Franson’s contract demands thus far, it seems, but it doesn’t sound like most are willing to give him a significant raise from his $3.3 million cap-hit from last year, either. That figure, or around that figure (I’d say about $500,000 more), seems doable for the Bruins. It’s not the money that’s keeping the Bruins from signing Franson though, if you ask me. It’s the years.
A multi-year deal complicates things for Sweeney, as he’s been more than vocal about creating the room to get some of the Bruins’ youngsters on defense -- Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, and Zach Trotman to name a few -- the opportunities to prove that they can hang at the NHL level. Bringing Franson in for the next two or three years really limits the club’s ability to do that. (Read as: It makes it impossible.)
Like written before, this has become a game of chicken between Franson and the interested teams.
I think that he considers Boston the ideal fit. It’s likely the best place for him to maximize his value alongside
Zdeno Chara on the B’s top pairing (or with Dennis Seidenberg on the second pairing) and post up 40 points, with 20 or so of them coming on an improving Boston power play. But he wants more than a one-year deal. The Bruins likely do not. And right now, one side is hoping the other becomes desperate and takes a contract that makes the other slightly uncomfortable. For Franson, that’s a one-year contract near/around his $3.3 million cap-hit of a year ago (or less) and for Boston, that’s a two-year contract worth anywhere from $7-8 million in total.
Sweeney, though he didn’t mention Franson by name, noted that the Bruins remain ‘in’ on veteran free agent defensemen just a week ago. And Franson’s given the verbal pitch back via his radio interview.
And the dance continues.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
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