TORONTO — Cody Franson prides himself on being able to block out any trade scuttlebutt that crops up around the Maple Leafs. But that became an impossible task this summer when the team attempted to deal him to Montreal.
“That rumour kind of landed right on my doorstep,” Franson said before Friday’s 4-1 loss to Detroit.
On his doorstep. Literally.
Franson spent the off-season living in a popular area of Kelowna, B.C, where his next door neighbour was Josh Gorges — the man the Leafs were attempting to acquire in the proposed deal with the Canadiens.
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What followed was a wild couple days while Gorges pondered whether to add Toronto to the list of teams he would accept a trade to. During that period he took calls from members of the Leafs brass. He also had some conversations with Franson, who had as much stake in the outcome as anyone.
“At the end of the day, that was a situation where it was based around him,” Franson told Sportsnet. “He had to do what was best for him and his career and that’s just the way I said it to him. I said, ‘Man this is your show — you do what you’ve got to do.”‘
Ultimately, Gorges elected not to relent. He expanded his list of trade destinations and was instead sent to Buffalo, allowing Franson to breathe a deep sigh of relief.
Despite being from British Columbia, the 27-year-old grew up as a huge fan of the Leafs after receiving a sweater from his uncle as a young child. There is nowhere else he’d rather play.
“I’m thrilled that I’m still here,” he says.
Exactly how long he’ll get to stay will depend heavily on his performance in the coming months. This sets up as a make-or-break year with Franson eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
While his stated goal is to land a long-term deal with the Leafs — “it’s a season to try and prove that I’m a guy that can be here for a long time” — contract negotiations between the sides have never come easy in the past.
For one reason or another, Franson hasn’t been able to cement his place as a fixture on the team’s blueline despite some solid play over three years. He intends to change that now.
“This is where I want to be,” said Franson. “I grew up a Leafs fan and to be able to play a lot of my career here would be ideal. That’s what I want.
“I’ve got to go out there and play well and prove to them that I’m a guy that they can count on.”
It seems that he’ll be given the chance. He’s spent the last two games playing alongside Dion Phaneuf on the team’s top pairing and continued to log his usual share of ice time on specialty teams.
While it is far from a permanent posting — coach Randy Carlyle says “we’re trying things” — it is an encouraging sign for Franson. He believes that he can capably fill a top-four role for the team. He wants to play more than 20 minutes a night.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the first couple games of the Leafs season is just how in flux the defence remains. Rookie Stuart Percy has unexpectedly grabbed a job while Jake Gardiner and Stephane Robidas have both sat out as a healthy scratch.
For what it’s worth, Phaneuf seems to genuinely enjoy skating alongside Franson. The pair weren’t great on a tough night against Detroit — Franson failed to pick up Justin Abdelkader before he scored a back-breaking goal in the third period — but they showed promise during a win over Colorado earlier in the week.
Franson is unafraid to use his body and possesses a booming shot. He also has excellent on-ice vision.
If the last few years have taught him anything, it’s about how to deal with an uncertain future. He’s currently on his third consecutive one-year contract from the Leafs and sat out almost all of training camp last season after negotiations hit a stalemate.
Asked to pinpoint why he hasn’t been able to make himself more of a priority for management, Franson notes that “there’s a bunch of different things that come into play.”
“Every year when you come up for a contract, it’s not just yourself that’s up for a contract,” he said. “You’ve got different guys up at different times. There’s so many different factors that it’s tough to say. It’s just seemed to work out where that’s just kind of the way my situation’s been and I’m OK with that.
“That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
As for the deal to Montreal that never materialized, Franson views that as nothing more than an interesting footnote now. He hasn’t had a discussion with Leafs general manager Dave Nonis about that situation and doesn’t intend to.
“Life goes on,” said Franson. “That’s just part of the business. You’re always in trade rumours — I’ve been in trade rumours since I got here — so you just go on like any other day.”
He’d no longer be spending those days in Toronto if it weren’t for the life-changing decision made by his neighbour and friend.