Franson signed (1 year, 2M)

[drummond]

Mark Masters @markhmasters

No hard feelings for Franson: 'It's just business. They have a job to do ... This is my dream place to play.'


Nice to hear

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Mark Masters @markhmasters

No hard feelings for Franson: 'It's just business. They have a job to do ... This is my dream place to play.'


Nice to hear

That is good to hear. I hope he feels that way when the Leafs come to re-up him before the off season comes around.

 

[Britishbulldog]

I like the signing/number just like everyone here but I'm seeing a lot of people talk about Franson and next summer and I can't help but feel like all this deal does is delay the inevitable. Leave Liles alone for a moment, I don't think this team's top 4 going forward can realistically be Phaneuf, Gardiner, Rielly and Franson for any number of reasons so if one of those guys isn't in your long term plans shouldn't plans be made to that effect now? We've all seen the sort of promise that Rielly is showing and Phaneuf seems like the two way guy of the bunch so I can't help but feel as though with both Gardiner and Franson's contract coming up signing both of them to long term deals is inherently a bad idea and the team should at the very least have an eye towards moving, if not actively shopping, one of them.

I agree Nik.  That is actually what I was trying to convey in the Armchair GM thread.  In the next 5 years the Cap isn't probably going much above $76 MIL.  That means a GM must look at the make up of the team as well as contract amounts.

$44 MIL for forwards isn't outrageous to expect to pay and will still leave the Leafs without that bonifide #1 center.

$7 MIL for both goalies isn't crazy either as next summer Bernier and Reimer will most likely be making near $6 MIL

That leaves the $25 MIL for defense.
Defense $25 MIL
- $7.9 MIL Norris Candidate (ofcourse I am suggesting non-Norris Shea Weber here)
- $6.5 MIL Top defenseman (Pietrangelo, Phaneuf, etc) Hopefully Phaneuf doesn't get a raise
- $4.5 MIL Offensive dman (Franson) Hopefully that cheap.
- $3.0 MIL Top dman prospect on Bridge contract (soon Gardiner) Hopefully that cheap.
- $1.2 MIL Tough/fighter (Fraser)
- $1.1 MIL Top dman prospect on ELC (now Gardiner, soon Rielly)
- $0.8 MIL Press box (Holzer, etc)

The top Norris guy might never be traded for but Gardiner might command $5 MIL a year in 3 years time as well as Franson as early as next summer.  I was going to suggest that a player like Fraser or Washington's Erskine should probably  come in below $1 MIL but just saw that Erksine is making almost $2 MIL a year on his current contract. (!?!!)

So yeah, I don't see how Nonis keeps Liles, Franson, Gardiner, Phaneuf and Rielly under contract for the next 3 years either.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Prominent free agents next summer:

UFA: Kessel, Phaneuf, Bolland, Kulemin, McClement, Raymond, Ranger, Fraser
RFA: Gardiner, Riemer, Franson

Nonis obviously can't wait until next June to start working on contracts. 11 names on that list. It'd be nice if at least 4 of them could be re-sign early in the season. Hopefully we can cross off either Kessel or Phaneuf pretty early. If I'm Nonis I start working on something for Kulemin and McClement too as their demands shouldn't be too high. By December if things are on track for Ranger and Franson I would try to get at least one of them signed to a long-term contract. Let Raymond and Fraser walk, and you only have to deal with Kessel or Phaneuf, Ranger or Franson, Gardiner, Reimer, and Bolland in the summer.

10 Contracts committed for next summer: $33,400,000

UFA:
Kessel $7.5
Phaneuf $6.5
Bolland replace with rookie or UFA
Kulemin $3.0
McClement $2.5
Raymond $2.5
Ranger $3.15 (Gunnarsson money)
Fraser $1.3 (if he blocks shots, fights and shows improvement skating maybe $1.5)

RFA:
Gardiner $3.0
Riemer $3.0
Franson $4.5

Total $37.15

20 contracts: $70.55

.....with 3 still needed to sign:
Bolland $3.375 (or his replacement)
Colborne (or his replacement)
Smith (or his replacement)

 

[Boston Leaf]

Im focused on today. Don't care right now about next years contracts. Let's start by beating the Habs next Tuesday 

 

[slapshot]

I like the signing/number just like everyone here but I'm seeing a lot of people talk about Franson and next summer and I can't help but feel like all this deal does is delay the inevitable. Leave Liles alone for a moment, I don't think this team's top 4 going forward can realistically be Phaneuf, Gardiner, Rielly and Franson for any number of reasons so if one of those guys isn't in your long term plans shouldn't plans be made to that effect now? We've all seen the sort of promise that Rielly is showing and Phaneuf seems like the two way guy of the bunch so I can't help but feel as though with both Gardiner and Franson's contract coming up signing both of them to long term deals is inherently a bad idea and the team should at the very least have an eye towards moving, if not actively shopping, one of them.

I agree Nik.  That is actually what I was trying to convey in the Armchair GM thread.  In the next 5 years the Cap isn't probably going much above $76 MIL.  That means a GM must look at the make up of the team as well as contract amounts.

$44 MIL for forwards isn't outrageous to expect to pay and will still leave the Leafs without that bonifide #1 center.

$7 MIL for both goalies isn't crazy either as next summer Bernier and Reimer will most likely be making near $6 MIL

That leaves the $25 MIL for defense.
Defense $25 MIL
- $7.9 MIL Norris Candidate (ofcourse I am suggesting non-Norris Shea Weber here)
- $6.5 MIL Top defenseman (Pietrangelo, Phaneuf, etc) Hopefully Phaneuf doesn't get a raise
- $4.5 MIL Offensive dman (Franson) Hopefully that cheap.
- $3.0 MIL Top dman prospect on Bridge contract (soon Gardiner) Hopefully that cheap.
- $1.2 MIL Tough/fighter (Fraser)
- $1.1 MIL Top dman prospect on ELC (now Gardiner, soon Rielly)
- $0.8 MIL Press box (Holzer, etc)

The top Norris guy might never be traded for but Gardiner might command $5 MIL a year in 3 years time as well as Franson as early as next summer.  I was going to suggest that a player like Fraser or Washington's Erskine should probably  come in below $1 MIL but just saw that Erksine is making almost $2 MIL a year on his current contract. (!?!!)

So yeah, I don't see how Nonis keeps Liles, Franson, Gardiner, Phaneuf and Rielly under contract for the next 3 years either.

Pundits are actually predicting the cap to rise to $100M over next five years and by at least 10 per cent next year to over $70M. The cap rose almost 100% over the course of the last CBA.

Should the cap next year be over $70M as expected, and the Leafs have $2.5 million coming off for Tucker, Armstrong, Frattin and Scrivens. That will give them $8.5 million extra. Toss $2.5 at Kessel to bring him in around $7.5M. Phaneuf will stay about the same, no increase I can see. That leaves about $6M for raises. Plus the Leafs will have other options, move Liles or Gunner, let Kuli walk.

I really don't see any need to be concerned at this point. I think we keep Phaneuf, Gardiner, Franson and Reilly without too much trouble.

 

[mr grieves]

Pundits are actually predicting the cap to rise to $100M over next five years and by at least 10 per cent next year to over $70M. The cap rose almost 100% over the course of the last CBA.

I've read that too, but I don't understand how it's meant to work. Over the last CBA, the cap went up 65%. To hit $100m in 5 years, the cap would have to go up 55%. Doesn't the new CBA split revenues in a way that's less generous to players than that sort of growth would suggest?

 

[Tigger]

"...This is my dream place to play. I'm hopeful that it's a long-term deal coming up after this.

I hope it works out for him and the Leafs.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Pundits are actually predicting the cap to rise to $100M over next five years and by at least 10 per cent next year to over $70M. The cap rose almost 100% over the course of the last CBA.

I've read that too, but I don't understand how it's meant to work. Over the last CBA, the cap went up 65%. To hit $100m in 5 years, the cap would have to go up 55%. Doesn't the new CBA split revenues in a way that's less generous to players than that sort of growth would suggest?

Here is the Globe and Mail article discussing the breakdown of how the cap could hit $90 MIL in 10 years.

It was written before the season started and he was guessing the amounts of revenues.  Interesting side note, the expected fan backlash didn't materialize and the league had generated a pro-rated $4.2 BIL in revenue which James Mirtle didn't expect until the end of 2019.

 

[Kin]

Pundits are actually predicting the cap to rise to $100M over next five years and by at least 10 per cent next year to over $70M. The cap rose almost 100% over the course of the last CBA.

I've read that too, but I don't understand how it's meant to work. Over the last CBA, the cap went up 65%. To hit $100m in 5 years, the cap would have to go up 55%. Doesn't the new CBA split revenues in a way that's less generous to players than that sort of growth would suggest?

That was before the explosion in sports broadcasting rights though and as more and more teams have their local broadcast rights come up for bids, as well as insanely lucrative things like the Canadian national cable broadcasts, you're going to see big jumps in revenues. Combine that with things like the way they're smartly capitalizing on the online and mobile markets and things like the 8-10 outdoor games a year and significant revenue growth like that isn't far-fetched in the least.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

"...This is my dream place to play. I'm hopeful that it's a long-term deal coming up after this.

I hope it works out for him and the Leafs.

Me too! Thanks for posting that.

 

[Bullfrog]

Really happy to hear this. I'm quite optimistic that last year is what we're going to see from Franson going forward. Perhaps not top 10 scoring performance, but still reliable on the offensive side with improvement in the defensive and physical role.