TSN’s Darren Dreger had an interesting report this morning saying that an unnamed team made Toronto an offer for defenseman Cody Franson. Dreger tweeted that this team offered a player and a second-round draft pick for Franson.
We don’t ever doubt Dreger’s sources, the guy is plugged in and knows what’s up. Our question is: Why hasn’t Brian Burke already accepted this offer? Franson is in the dog house in a big way in Toronto and the Leafs have a bit of depth on the blue line. While the player they could get in return might be another defenseman, if it wasn’t they still have Keith Aulie, Matt Lashoff, and Korbinian Holzer in the AHL as depth filler.
(Update (10:25 a.m.): Chris Iorfida of CBC Sports notes to us that Lashoff is out six months after suffering a knee injury over the weekend. That’ll hurt the depth a bit.)
Franson has turned into a disappointment for Toronto after coming over in the lopsided deal with Nashville that saw the Leafs also pick up Matt Lombardi while sending away Brett Lebda. Franson hasn’t exactly worked out well going from complaining about not playing to not playing well when he was put in the lineup. If the Leafs can get that kind of return on a guy they’re not playing, it’s a surprise they haven’t already agreed to the deal.