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It's not so much about what Franson is, it's more about how much does he improve the team. I don't watch as many Leafs games as you guys but from what I saw and read in his stats he is more or less on par with Kronwall regarding offense but worse defensively. In my opinion that makes him very good top 4 defender and a decent top 2. But we already have two, maybe three of that in Quincy, Ericsson and arguably DeKeyser. Sure, they don't have the offensive upside of Franson but they make that more or less up with their better defensive play. So, would Franson have improved us ? Sure, we'd be a little bit more flexible and deeper on our blueline and increased our production a little bit. Would that be nice to have ? Of course. Would it worth the price of a top pick + prospect ? No. What we really need is a offensive top 2 D-Man to complement Kronwall on our first paring not another top 4 guy. Franson simply isn't that guy. And the price paid by the Preds is to high for just "nice to have", especially considering Franson is an UFA this summer. I'm glad Kenny stayed away from him and I hope he also doesn't trade for Petry for the same reasons stated here. The far better options are to get Yandle or to stay pat and try to sign Green this summer.

Lana: What's your third biggest fear? Archer: Brain aneurysm. Lana: What's a brain aneurysm have to do with walking around in a swamp? Archer: Nothing, it can happen anywhere at anytime, that's what makes it so terrifying.

I am so sorry to hear this, and yes, it could be any number of things - but at age 35, it's very very sad. Our NHL family of players is so small, it's hard to lose any of the guys. RIP.

Hockey News said he was 35. Man, hug your kids and husbands and wives today and tell 'em you love them. Our time is too short unless you are Claude Lemieux.

1st round pick was too high a price, and with Toronto in our division, it would have been higher. I don't remember who it was, but someone had some interesting speculation regarding any Toronto-to-Detroit trade. They said that above and beyond the traditional conference rival issues, there's also the whole "Mike Babcock to Toronto" issue as well. If Toronto wants any shot at landing Babs, they have to hope Detroit loses out early in the playoffs. As such, they won't be interested in sending Detroit any player that might help them make a deeper run, since that would significantly lessen the chances that Babcock leaves.

Andy Pred, I think prior to this trade the Blues absolutely had the best back end, but I think the Preds own that now. Hard to compete with a back end of Weber, Franson, Josi, Jones and Ellis. Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk are awesome, and Bouwmeester and Jackman are solid. Preds definitely have a more potent blueline in my opinion.

Agreed, neither have been preferred destinations. But no doubt they'd prefer to be on the #1 team in the league rather than stuck in Toronto (which was the original opinion that you responded to.) To me, that's not typical LGW at all. Typical LGW is: "Why can't Holland make deals like this! (even though nobody would want him to pay the price that was payed). He's just booting the tires while wasting the rest of Dats and Z's careers..." To be fair, Quincey came hear with an expiring contract, but he would be an RFA so we knew we'd have him for more than the rental period. Franson is purely a rental at the time of this trade - It's a much higher price to pay for the return.

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Trading to a divisional opponent should not be an issue in this particular situation. The Wings and Leafs don't play each other any more this season, the Leafs have no chance in making the playoffs, and Franson is a UFA at the end of the season. The Leafs should and would have taken the best deal on the table, regardless of who they were helping out. Why shouldn't the prospect matter in this situation? The Leafs can't draft for s***, they should be after high end prospects before late first round draft picks. Ouellet should be worth more to a team like the Leafs than a 24ish overall pick from Nashville. And give it a rest with this Babcock speculation, it's bulls***, plain and simple. Yes, since the Wings didn't land Franson, they will get bounced earlier in the playoffs, and now Babcock will choose to go to the Leafs, who are in full rebuild mode, rather than stay with a team that has a tradition of winning, and is a year or two max away from contention once again... Give me a f***ing break...

People tend to forget Zetterberg's 2008 playoff performance when he literally shut down the top 2 players in the world (Crosby/Malkin) AND set the franchise record for most points in a playoff season AND won the Conn Smyth. Z may no longer be a top 10 player but he sure as hell was the top player of his position that year and arguably the top 3 player of his position in the latter part of last decade. Add the cherry on top, he's the captain of one of the most successful franchises in NHL. They could not have set it up for him any better. If he doesn't make the rafters after those feats + his commitment of a lifelong contract on this franchise, then I highly doubt we will see any more jersey retirements anytime in the future. And I really don't even need to make a case for Datsyuk. The only thing holding his situation back is if he parts ways from Detroit. MAYBE. Additionally people tend to forget that Federov did everything he did on an extremely stacked roster - a pre salary cap era. Don't get me wrong Federov was an outright beast of a player. But his feats were supportable by Yzerman, Lidstrom, Shanahan, Russian 5, and much much more. Who did Pav or Hank have to support their feats? an aging Lidstrom? And even if we forget all these numbers. Z and Pav are adored by fans and the management. Babcocks called Z "the coaches son" type of player after he signed his major contract in 2009. If anything Z/Pav have a better shot at it than number 91; they're on excellent terms with the franchise and fans. But I do wish Feds gets it as well.

Doubt there really is any hard criteria. I think Devellano said Aurie isn't up there because he's not in the HoF, so maybe that. But most likely it's just having enough guys up top thinking someone's "special". Kelly could be there with the other greats from the 50's dynasty. Fedorov also has a strong case. Doubt either will happen. Personally I don't think they should be. Not really sure Abel, Lindsay, and Delvecchio belong there either. Howe, Lidstrom and Sawchuk are all considered among the very best few to ever play at their positions. Yzerman was such a beloved icon for the franchise, and blasphemous as it may be to say I think he's borderline. It's that kind of stuff that should get you in the rafters, not just being a great player and winning some Cups.

At no point have I ever in any way supported the idea of pursuing Franson at any cost. Had we landed him for a first I would have been first in line to criticize the terrible trade. We already made the overpaying for a rental mistake last season, this is the same thing but at a greater cost.

Haha typical LGW. We didn't land him, so... we didn't even want him... Franson is garbage, not worth the asking price...

I'm sorry to hear that i hope she makes a full recovery

Hmmm... Would I want to play for a team that's playoff bound for years to come... Or a team that's in "scorched Earth" mode?

Saw the game online athanasiou was really impressive and mantha showed some flashes of brilliance and I got no doubt those 2 will be in our lineup in 2-3 seasons As for pulkkinen I'd personally make room for him right now and give him the rest of the season and give him time to get going for the playoffs , where else we gonna trade for a guy with Pulkkinen's shot? We need every valuable asset right now to help us win while pavel and hank are with us and I think with Pulkkinen's shot and maybe on a 3rd line playing against other teams bottom 6 in the playoffs could really provide us with a few valuable goals

Not necessarily. Rare things such as aneurysms can happen at any age.

I'm pretty sure Richdg is the only one that seen the defensive prowess in DeKeyser's game... or at the very least, he was the first to tune into his ability... Everyone else, join the bandwagon...

Bummer, I was really hoping we'd get him. Not too surprised we didn't though.

That would be the worst movie ever made about sex...nobody would score!

Yeah, heard he was acquired so he could retire as a shark. Classy move, I like it.

The Kindle has killed the written word. Not everyone should be allowed to publish their crap online for others to read in mass. This is why we have things like 50 Shades of Gray. I will never be able to own a digital library of anything. I just can't trust computers/technology enough to spend thousands of dollars on movies/music that I can't hold in my hands. None of us need a pickup truck. They should be specialty vehicles like ambulances for professional contractors/movers. You don't need one. "But I might need to move something big." You can have it delivered by a pro. "But I want to save money and do it myself." Buy a smaller car. "But I like to be taller than everyone else on the road." You're an idiot and part of the problem. The NHL is a second rate league not because of ESPN, but because of the CBC. Keeping antiquated announcers and segments and loud-mouthed former players/coaches may be popular in Canada for hockey, but when it's done the same way in the U.S. it becomes annoying. We need more American LeBruns and McKenzies and less Canadian/American Eddie Os, JRs, and Milburys in order to be taken seriously in the U.S. When ESPN covers hockey for the obligatory 60 seconds who shows up? The same tired mullet with the funny accent and no charisma.

As long as we have this guy, we're always contenders.