from David Staples of The Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal,
At the same time, on Oilers Now, The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson said he didn’t think Franson would be a good fit for the Oilers as Franson had played poorly for Nashhville after being traded there by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Broadcaster Bob Stauffer of the Oilers said on his Oilers Now show that he doubted that the Oilers would or should go after a top free agent, though he said if the team could shed some salary it might well target Andrej Sekera. Stauffer’s speculation once against turned into the fact of the matter, which makes some sense given that Stauffer is obsessive in tracking down the facts and also works for the Oilers, making him not just a hockey insider, but an NHL employee.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun speculated on Stauffer’s show that Franson would sign with his old team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Globe & Mail’s James Mirtle tweeted this would not happen, but the rumour resurfaced on free agency day.
On the morning of July 1, ESPN’s highly-connected Pierre LeBrun reported that the Oilers were indeed interested in Franson, along with Mike Green and Sekera.
Since then there’s been pretty much crickets on Franson.
While top UFA d-men like Sekera signed with Edmonton, Paul Martin with San Jose and Mike Green with Detroit, there’s been little smoke on the Franson front, let along any kind of fire. The same goes with free agent d-men Johnny Oduya and Christian Ehrhoff.
Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe still sees a market for Franson: “Age 28 (soon), 6-foot-5…I still bet he comes very close to $6.5,” he said Friday on Twitter.
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