Cody Franson

IN THE MATTER OF SALARY ARBITRATION BETWEEN: CODY FRANSON - AND - THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS HOCKEY CLUB BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF CODY FRANSON (TEAM 8) I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW .................................................................................... 3 A. Physical Offensive Defenceman .............................................................................................. 3 B. Sustained Progression of Defensive Abilities ......................................................................... 5 C. Contribution to the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club ......................................................... 6 II. VALID COMPARABLE PLAYERS ..................................................................................... 7 A. Kyle Quincey (Age: 29, HT: 6’2”, WT: 216 lbs.) - Detroit Red Wings .................................. 7 B. Jason Demers (Age: 26, HT: 6’1”, WT: 195 lbs.) – San Jose Sharks .................................... 9 III. CONCLUSION………………………………..……………………………………………10 2 I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: This brief is in support of defenceman Cody Franson’s (“Mr. Franson”) position in salary arbitration with the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club (the “Leafs” or the “Club”). Mr. Franson is in his final off-season as a Group 2 Restricted Free Agent (“RFA”) as he will be 27 years old before June 30, 2015. Mr. Franson’s permissible election for salary arbitration pursuant to Article 12.9(c)1 will only allow the awarding of a one- year contract. In accordance with Article 12.9(g)2 of the CBA, in determining a salary arbitration award value, an evaluation of Mr. Franson’s career statistics and overall contribution to the Club will be conducted. Mr. Franson will also be evaluated in comparison to NHLPA edible players. Based upon these evaluations, Mr. Franson respectfully submits that an award above the $3.3 million midpoint figure is a reasonably fitting award, and that a one-year contract for $3.65 million is justified. A. Physical Offensive Defenceman At 6’5” and 215 lbs., Cody Franson is a physically imposing defenceman who demonstrates great offensive instincts. He has spent his NHL career with the Nashville Predators and the Leafs. Mr. Franson, the 79th overall selection in 2005, was traded to the Leafs in a 2011 multi-player deal.3 Since then, Mr. Franson has played three seasons with the Leafs as a physical offensive defenceman who has become a staple on the Leafs’ 5th ranked, ’14-’15, power play.4 Table 1: Cody Franson’s NHL Career Statistics5 Season GP G A PTS +/- PPG PP PIM SOG TOI/g HITS BkS GvA TkA A (NSH) 2009-2010 61 6 15 21 15 1 5 16 90 14:11 55 53 22 19 (NSH) 2010-2011 80 8 21 29 10 2 4 30 156 15:10 81 52 39 29 (TOR) 2011-2012 57 5 16 21 -1 2 5 22 65 16:11 102 53 45 20 (TOR) 2012-2013 45 4 25 29 4 3 10 8 70 18:47 124 59 40 21 (TOR) 2013-2014 79 5 28 33 -20 1 17 30 115 20:41 282 111 68 50 1 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, 2012, s.12. 2 Ibid. 3 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/cody-franson/bio 4nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAALL&sort=powerPlayPercentage&viewName=powerPlay 5 www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats 3 Career 322 28 105 133 8 9 9 106 496 - 644 328 214 139 Mr. Franson’s statistics immediately indicate a player that delivers a substantial amount of body checks, averaging two hits per game over his career. Mr. Franson’s prowess for physical play established him as league leader for hits amongst NHL defencemen last season—averaging 3.6 hits per game.6 Mr. Franson is not just an impressive hitter, he is the league’s best; for a second straight year he lead all top 40 NHLers in hits per penalty minute, incurring only one penalty minute for every 9.4 hits last season and one penalty minute for every 15.5 hits the year before.7 This finding demonstrates Mr. Franson’s ability to utilize his large frame to frequently deliver clean and punishing bodychecks against his opponents.8 Although he is aggressive, his discipline proves especially important to the Maple Leafs last season as it saved the team from having to endure the NHL’s third worst penalty kill (78.4 PK%)9. In spite of his highly physical playing style, Mr. Franson’s body has suffered minimally, missing a total of 13 games to injury in the past five seasons.10 His capacity to endure physical NHL play cannot be understated, as it allows the Leafs to be consistently protected by their prolific defenceman game after game. Another area where Mr. Franson is preeminent is in his ability to register shots on goal; this especially important asset has solidified him as a main fixture on one of the NHL’s elite power-play units. Mr. Franson’s accurate, quick-release and blistering point are ideal for finding a way to get puck through traffic and on net. His puck moving and shooting ability generated 18 power play points (1 PPG, 17 PPA), and 33 points in total (5 G, 28 A) last season. His offensive 6 Using official NHL statistics for 2013-14, hits (“HITS”) were divided by games played (“GP”) to reach this ratio. 7 Using official NHL statistics, hits (“HITS”) were divided by penalty minutes (“PIM”) to reach this ratio. 8 www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats 9 www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats 10 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/cody-franson/bio 4 output established him as the Maple Leafs top scoring defenceman and tied him for second in power play points behind Phil Kessel (20 PPP).11 Accordingly, due to his exceptional prowess for clean and punishing physical play, ability to remain healthy, and substantial offensive impact, Mr. Franson submits that he is entitled to an arbitration award exceeding the $3.3 million midpoint figure. B. Sustained Progression of Defensive Abilities Although Mr. Franson exhibits great offensive instincts, his value as an NHL defenceman must also be founded upon his defensive capabilities. Looking at Mr. Franson’s past five NHL seasons, it can be readily seen that he has demonstrated a sustained progression of his defensive abilities. In analyzing improvements under categories such as: i.) Takeaways (TkA); ii.) Blocked Shots (BkS); and iii.) Average Time on Ice per Game (TOI/g), it becomes clearer that Mr. Franson continues to develop into a trustworthy asset with great defensive aptitude. Ranking 5th among NHL defenceman last year for his 50 takeaways12, Mr. Franson’s continuing development indicates strong positional play that breaks up oppositional plays. Although Mr. Franson’s giveaways outnumber his takeaways, this is more indicative of high pressure play often moving through Mr. Franson rather than a display of poor puck possession. To be explained simply, those who frequently give away the puck, also frequently have the puck in their possession. For example, 2013-14 Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith yielded 70 giveaways to his 48 takeaways that same year.13 Mr. Franson’s contribution in shot blocking has dramatically increased over the past two seasons. Mr. Franson blocked 170 shots in 124 in his past two seasons (1.37 BkS/game)14; this is a substantial improvement over his first three NHL seasons where 158 shots were blocked in 198 11 www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats 12 http://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/player-takeaway-statistics/2013/ 13 www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats 14 Using official NHL statistics, blocks (“BkS”) were divided by games played (“GP”) to reach this ratio. 5 games (0.80 BkS/game)15. The improvements to his blocked shot numbers directly aligns with coach Randy Carlyle’s only full seasons with the Leafs, suggesting Mr. Franson to be a professional who is able to adopt his game to coaching expectations16. With Franson’s big frame blocking the more direct paths to the net, it’s no wonder that the Leafs’ opponent’s shooting percentage suffered last year, from 9.47% to 8.09% when Franson was on the ice. Further to this point, Mr. Franson’s rising TOI/g over the past five seasons denotes progression of a trustworthy defenceman that is increasingly relied upon to play significant minutes. His continuing progression as a well-rounded NHL defenceman with size is of great value to the Leafs and consequently, should increase Mr. Franson’s award. C. Contribution to the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club Aside from Mr. Franson leading the Club in points amongst defencemen for the past two seasons, being an essential element of one of the NHL’s most potent power plays, and playing significant minutes for the Club; Mr. Franson is also a remarkable playoff performer. On a team where a majority of the players have very little playoff experience, Mr. Franson’s 23 postseason games cannot be discounted. Although Mr. Franson put up very admirable playoff numbers in his rookie and sophomore seasons, his series against the eventual 2013 Stanley Cup Finalists, the Boston Bruins, was truly an exceptional performance. Table 2: Cody Franson’s Playoff Statistics17 Season GP G A PTS +/- P/GP PPG PIM TOI/g HITS (NSH) 2009-10 4 0 1 1 1 0.25 0 2 9:02 4 (NSH) 2010-11 12 1 5 6 0 0.50 0 0 15:19 8 (TOR) 2012-13 7 3 3 6 0 0.86 1 0 22:49 33 Career 23 4 9 13 1 0.57 1 2 - 45 In seven games against the Eastern Conference powerhouse, Mr. Franson averaged 0.86 points per game (P/GP), doled out 33 hits without incurring any penalty minutes, and played the 15 Ibid. 16 http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/581836 17 www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats 6 third most minutes for the Club. His three goals and three assists were good enough to place him third behind James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel for Leafs playoff points leaders.

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