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Sabres know what they want from Franson

By James O'BrienSep 11, 2015, 2:00 PM EDT

Once you get beyond the class of elite players who can dominate under just about any circumstance, you move to those who can excel if placed in the right situation.

Nashville wasn’t the best scenario for Cody Franson late in the 2014-15 season. With top-shelf scoring threats on the blueline in Shea Weber and Roman Josi, Franson got lost in the crowd.

The Buffalo Sabres nabbed him for a bargain price on Thursday, and to the delight of fans, it sounds like they’ll have a much better chance of getting the most out of a talented defenseman.

More specifically, it seems as though GM Tim Murray envisions the 28-year-old as something of an offensive specialist.

In case you don’t want to watch the video, Murray touched on some specifics:

He doesn’t expect Franson to be a heavy-hitting, stay-at-home defenseman. It sounds like any big checks will just be “gravy” to the Sabres.
The blueliner sounds primed for a role on the first power-play unit.
While Murray pencils Franson in as a “top four or five” defenseman, he noted that new head coach Dan Bylsma will try to put him into advantageous on-ice matchups and emphasize offensive zone starts for Franson.

Murray paints a picture of Franson in his ideal situation: sending crisp passes that hit the likes of Evander Kane in stride or firing a well-placed shot from the point.

Buffalo’s off-season presents such a drastic change that it’s difficult to gauge expectations for this team. If the Sabres touch the right buttons with players like Franson, this team could be awfully intriguing, awfully quick.

With cap ‘flexibility,’ Bruins not ‘closing the books’ on adding players

By Jason BroughJul 15, 2015, 11:59 AM EDT

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They had to trade Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic to get it, but the Boston Bruins finally have some breathing room under the salary cap.

The question now is if they can take advantage.

“If we have any opportunities come up, we now have the flexibility to act on them,” club president Cam Neely told CSN New England. “If something happens now all the way through training camp where we feel we can improve our club, we have a better chance of adding without saying, ‘Okay, now who do we have to subtract?'”

With the loss of Hamilton, which came less than a year after the loss of Johnny Boychuk, the Bruins’ defense is a major question mark heading into 2015-16.

While GM Don Sweeney has called it “a great opportunity” for some of the “kids” — and Neely doesn’t disagree — Neely insists that “by no means are we closing the books and saying this is what we’ve got.”

Unrestricted free agents on defense include Christian Ehrhoff and Cody Franson. The former is willing to sign a one-year deal, which may be attractive. But Franson, a right shot like Hamilton and Boychuk, may be a better fit.

The Bruins are believed to have made a bid for Mike Green, also a right shot, who signed with Detroit on July 1.

Report: Stars among teams courting Oduya

By Jason BroughJul 14, 2015, 10:12 AM EDT

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From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

Dallas Stars are among the teams in on UFA defenseman Johnny Oduya, who could make his decision today.

— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) July 14, 2015

Everyone knows that Johnny Oduya’s first choice is to remain with the Chicago Blackhawks. But the 33-year-old defenseman can’t wait around forever for GM Stan Bowman to clear the cap space.

If it’s not the ‘Hawks, the Stars — with a young, inexperienced defense that doesn’t have veteran Trevor Daley anymore — may make sense. Dallas has a ton of talent up front, and after GM Jim Nill signed Antti Niemi to address the goaltending, the blue line is the one area that could perhaps be improved.

The Buffalo Sabres are another team that’s interested in signing Oduya. There are undoubtedly a few others.

For those teams that lose out on Oduya, other UFA d-men include Cody Franson and Christian Ehrhoff.

There are some interesting players left on the UFA market

By Ryan DadounJul 12, 2015, 10:46 PM EDT

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The unrestricted free agent market has slowed to a crawl, but there are still some noteworthy players left for the taking and they might end up with buyer-friendly contracts at this point.

Here’s a sampling of the most interesting names:

Cody Franson — His return to Nashville didn’t go as scripted, but he’s still a 27-year-old (28 in August) defenseman that recorded 33 and 36 points in each of his last two seasons. Agent Gerry Johannson felt back in June that Jeff Petry’s six-year, $33 million extension was in the right “ballpark” for Franson, but at this point it would be interesting to see if he would settle for a one-year contract in the hope of finding more favorable conditions with his next deal.

Alex Semin — He had just six goals and 19 points in 57 contests last season and Hurricanes GM Ron Francis cited his compete level as a reason for buying him out. Semin has had a wildly inconsistent career, but when he’s at his best, he’s a top-tier goal scorer. The fact that he’s reportedly interested in a one-year deal suggests that the risks involved in signing him will be managed. Under those conditions, he at least has the potential to provide any team with a significant boost.

Christian Ehrhoff — Concussion problems limited Ehrhoff to just 49 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season and that’s likely part of the reason he’s still on the open market. However, he has breached the 30-point mark six times and most recently in 2013-14. So perhaps his next one-year deal will go better than his last.

Marek Zidlicky — He’ll celebrate his 39th birthday in February, but he can still be a big contributor with the man advantage. In fact last season he was tied for 12th place among defensemen with 20 power-play points (34 overall).

Brad Boyes — He had a decent 14 goals and 38 points in 78 contests in 2014-15 with a Panthers team that didn’t do much offensively, but was nevertheless bought out. Although he’s unlikely to ever rise to the level he was at in 2007-2008 when he scored 43 goals, he’s still a decent secondary scorer and has traditionally be very effective in shootouts.

While Johnny Oduya is out there too, he’s expected to make his decision within the week. The Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks are among his potential destinations.

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Here’s who’s left after Day 1 of free agency

By James O'BrienJul 2, 2015, 12:43 AM EDT

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Well, the first day of NHL free agency is over, and some big names were crossed off the board (generally for surprisingly reasonable prices). Even so, there are quite a few significant players still looking for a new contract as of July 2.

Let’s take a look at some of the most noteworthy parties who are still looking for a dance partner.

Martin St. Louis (pictured) – At 40, the pint-sized winger is almost certainly limited to a short-term (probably one-year) deal. His production plummeted in 2014-15, so he likely relates to the likes of Justin Williams in not having a great contract year. Perhaps he’ll end up with a short, cheap deal that will be comparable to that of former teammate Brad Richards? Retirement is always a possibility, too.

Joel Ward – This has not been a great start for players who market themselves as “clutch guys.” Ward doesn’t believe in clutch, yet people who may fall under that perceived category – Antoine Vermette and Williams – either grabbed the same amount of money or less than they made before.

Seriously, Day 1 was weird.

Johnny Oduya – A veteran defenseman with a lot of desirable qualities, although he doesn’t possess the sort of offensive panache as someone like Mike Green. One would assume that his agent would try to use Francois Beauchemin (three years, $13.5 million) and Paul Martin (four years, $19.4 million) as comparables.

Cody Franson – How much did the trade to Nashville hurt his bargaining power? Still, he’s just 27 and already has two 30+ point seasons to his name (plus his possession numbers are solid). Plenty of teams could use defense, yet as you can see from this list, other quality choices might undercut his value a bit.

Christian Ehrhoff – Speaking of rough contract years, Ehrhoff’s was pretty much a disaster. Could he be a nice bargain? Perhaps he’ll opt for another one-year deal to drive up the price of a future contract …

Eric Fehr – He scored 19 goals this season and peaked with 21 in 2009-10. His only sabbatical from Washington (2011-12 with Winnipeg) went poorly, yet he could be a great sneaky pickup, perhaps for a contender?

Alexander Semin – One of the great mysteries of the market. He fits a theme of fading free agents: the once-terrifying sniper’s either like Dany Heatley in 2015 (done) or a resounding reclamation project.

Chris Stewart – Perennially disappointing, yet he almost scored 30 goals once and could be useful at the right price (and in the right situation).

Lubomir Visnovsky – As injury-prone as ever, yet his offensive skills could make him a nice depth find.

Marek Zidlicky – He is what he is: an aging and flawed blueliner who can still be a scoring asset.

***

This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it represents some of the bigger remaining names. Which player(s) should your team swipe?