Cody Franson

Cody Franson
Born (1987-08-08) August 8, 1987
Sicamous, BC, CAN
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight 213 lb (97 kg; 15 st 3 lb)
Position Defenceman
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams
Buffalo Sabres
Nashville Predators
Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL Draft 79th overall, 2005
Nashville Predators
Playing career 2007present

Cody Franson (born August 8, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman currently with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Franson was drafted in the third round, 79th overall, by the Nashville Predators in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011 as a free agent, before eventually returning to Nashville via a trade on February 15, 2015.

Playing career

Minor

Franson played minor hockey for the Sicamous Eagles in Sicamous, British Columbia. During the 2003–04 season, Franson played junior 'B' hockey with the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, a team based out of Fruitvale, British Columbia, in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). The Nitehawks won the KIJHL championship the year Franson played on the team.[1]

Junior

Franson went undrafted in the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft. Nevertheless, the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League (WHL) offered him a tryout and Franson was successful in making the team.[2] He played full-time for the Giants starting in the 2004–05 season, where he put up 13 points. Franson then improved to 55- and 51-point campaigns with the Giants in the next two seasons, respectively. In 2006, he helped lead the Giants to the President's Cup as WHL champions, earning a berth in the 2006 Memorial Cup. He then recorded the only hat-trick of the tournament and led all defencemen in scoring, with five points in five games. In the subsequent off-season, Franson signed an entry-level contract with the Predators in July 2006, the organization that drafted him in the third round, 79th overall, in 2005.[3] The next year, he was named to the WHL West First All-Star Team[4] and was nominated for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the League's top defenceman, although the Trophy was ultimately awarded to Kris Russell of the Medicine Hat Tigers.[5] After falling to Medicine Hat in the 2007 WHL Final, Franson and the Giants captured the 2007 Memorial Cup as tournament hosts, defeating the Tigers in the final.

Professional

In the 2007–08 season, Franson turned professional and was assigned to the Predators' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. He tallied 36 points in his rookie season in Milwaukee.

On October 17, 2009, Franson played in his first NHL game against the Washington Capitals, notching a single shot on goal.[6] Later that week, on October 22, Franson scored his first career NHL goal against Pascal Leclaire of the Ottawa Senators.

On July 3, 2011, Franson, along with forward Matthew Lombardi, was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Brett Lebda and Robert Slaney.[7] During the subsequent 2011–12 season, Franson played 57 games for the Maple Leafs, scoring 21 points and finishing with a plus-minus rating of –1.

On October 1, 2012, Franson signed a contract with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Elitserien due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout. On January 13, 2013, he signed a one-year contract with Toronto as a restricted free agent. On May 13, Franson scored two goals for the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Boston Bruins, a game Toronto eventually lost 5–4 in overtime.

On July 21, 2014, Franson and the Maple Leafs agreed to a one-year contract extension worth $3.3 million.[8] On February 15, 2015, Franson was traded back to the Nashville Predators, along with Mike Santorelli, in exchange for Olli Jokinen, Brendan Leipsic and a first-round draft pick.[9] This marked both Santorelli's and Franson's second tenure with Nashville.

Despite being ranked as one of the top free agents available during the offseason, Franson did not sign a contract until September 10, 2015 when he inked a two-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres worth $6.6 million total.[10]

International play

Medal record
Representing Canada Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2007 Sweden

Franson was a part of Canada'S 2007 World Junior Championship gold medal-winning team in Sweden.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03Vancouver GiantsWHL30002
2003–04Trail Smoke EatersBCHL20110
2003–04Vancouver GiantsWHL20000
2004–05Vancouver GiantsWHL64211134440110
2005–06Vancouver GiantsWHL7115405561185152012
2006–07Vancouver GiantsWHL59173451881934710
2007–08Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL761125364060222
2008–09Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL7611415247113588
2009–10Milwaukee AdmiralsAHL62574
2009–10Nashville PredatorsNHL61615211640112
2010–11Nashville PredatorsNHL808212930121560
2011–12Toronto Maple LeafsNHL575162122
2012–13Brynäs IFSEL2634710
2012–13Toronto Maple LeafsNHL4542529873360
2013–14Toronto Maple LeafsNHL795283330
2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 6 26 32 26
2014–15Nashville PredatorsNHL23134250220
2015–16 Buffalo Sabres NHL 59 4 13 17 26
NHL totals 459 39 147 186 160 28 4 11 15 2

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2007 Canada WJC 1st 6 0 2 2 2
Junior totals 6 0 2 2 2

Awards

References

  1. "Cody Franson". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. "Player Alumni - Giants in the NHL". VancouverGiants.com. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  3. http://web.archive.org/web/20070311072632/http://www.nashvillepredators.com:80/pressbox/news.asp?story_id=962. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "WHL Announces 2006-07 All-Star Teams". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  5. "WHL Announces 2006-07 Award Finalists". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  6. "OVECHKIN NETS TWO GOALS, THEN SCORES OT WINNER VS. PREDATORS". TSN. 2009-10-18. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  7. "Leafs acquire Lombardi and Franson in swap". NHL.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  8. Fitz-Gerald, Sean (21 July 2014). "Toronto Maple Leafs sign defenceman Cody Franson to one-year deal". National Post. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  9. "Leafs trade Santorelli, Franson to Predators". MapleLeafsHotStove.com. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  10. "Sabres sign Franson". Buffalo Sabres. 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-09-10.

External links

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