Franson on ground floor of Buffalo rebuild

BU F FA LO A summer of anxiety turned into an optimistic autumn for defenceman Cody Franson.

He wasn’t one of the 70 unrestricted free agents signed right on July 1, despite being among the best players available. He wasn’t among the 53 who signed over the seven days that followed.

July came and went, and Franson was still on the market. So did August. In fact, 232 free agents signed before Franson agreed to join the Buffalo Sabres on a two-year contract worth $6.65 million US. The average annual value of $3.325 million was a hair larger than the $3.3 million the Maple Leafs paid him for the 2014-15 season.

“Any time you go through an unemployment period like that, those situations bring stress and anxiety, there’s no real way to completely avoid it,” Franson said of his first try as an unrestricted free agent, although he is no stranger to dealing with drawn-out contract negotiations.

In 2013, Franson held out as a restricted free agent coming off a 29-point season in 45 games of the last lockout-shortened season. He missed a portion of training camp before signing a one-year, $2.2-million deal with the Maple Leafs. In 2014, Franson’s camp elected for salary arbitration after leading the Leafs defencemen with 33 points. He ultimately agreed to another one-year deal, this time with a 50-per-cent raise.

Midway through last season, Franson’s stock was rising. An injury to Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf meant an increase in playing time and he was being relied upon to lead. He had collected 32 points in 55 games and averaged more than 21 minutes of ice-time but was shipped to Nashville in a package that brought Toronto a 2015 firstround pick and prospect Brendan Leipsic.

Returning to Nashville, where he was drafted and broke into the league, Franson’s value appeared to take a dive. He managed just one goal and three assists in 23 games and was a healthy scratch during the Predators playoff run.

That late stretch put a damper on the type of offers Franson hoped to see, so he waited.

In Buffalo, Franson believes he has found a fit like he had in Toronto. Injuries to defencemen Josh Gorges and Zach Bogosian (both week-to-week) have resulted in Franson’s leadership becoming increasingly important.

Franson has a clean slate in Buffalo, which is embarking on a new era with No. 2 overall draft pick Jack Eichel. There is a refreshed sense of optimism for the team that has finished dead last in the standings the last two seasons.