Cody Franson trade 'wasn't a perfect fit' for Predators

When the Predators acquired defenseman Cody Franson as part of a trade with the Maple Leafs on Feb. 15, it was viewed as the rich getting richer.

Franson was among the most coveted rental players available. His return to Nashville, which drafted him in 2005, strengthened what was already considered one of the best defenses in the NHL,

Yet Franson wasn't impactful in 28 regular-season and playoff games for Nashville, largely because he wasn't utilized nearly as much as he was in Toronto.

He averaged 21:23 per game for the Maple Leafs, which included 3:05 on the power play and 2:00 shorthanded. With the Predators, his ice time plunged to 15:25 per game, barely contributing to Nashville's special-teams units.

"It was definitely an adjustment," Franson said. "You go from playing over 20 minutes a night on any given night in a bunch of different situations, special teams and things like that, to more of a depth guy and trying to play more of a shutdown role and just not really allow much. I tried to adjust to it as best I could and contribute as much as I could."

An unrestricted free agent this summer with his $3.3 million contract set to expire, Franson said Monday that he was "hopeful that something works out here, but I haven't really thought about it too much at this point." It seems unlikely that he will return, though, especially when considering general manager David Poile's assessment of the trade during his end-of-season address Tuesday.

Franson's arrival gave Nashville four right-handed defensemen, a scarce commodity in the NHL. At the time of the trade, Poile was pleased to have another on the roster, with Franson joining a group consisting of captain Shea Weber, Seth Jones and Ryan Ellis. But it was ultimately a matter of having too much of a good thing.

"I think to be very honest, the fact that Franson was a right-handed shot — and the lefty-righty (defense pairs) all year (were) working really good for us — the righty-righty thing was, not making an excuse, but it wasn't the perfect situation for Franson or for us," Poile said. "I think when Shea went down (with a dislocated kneecap) and Franson got in there, and then he got to play in a lefty-righty situation, I think he played a lot better.

"Our defense was very good this year, and I think in the playoffs he played better than he did maybe sometimes in the regular season. It wasn't a perfect fit to be very honest and — bottom line — it wasn't like we didn't know that before we made the trade, but we were hoping it would work probably a little bit better."

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