Long Time No Nothin' / Cody Franson Signs PTO

                   Dude, you're leaving Buffalo.  Take me with you, for the love of God.

No real news = no posts for two months.  Fret not, as there is finally some semi-news to relate.

Many weeks ago the usual sources indicated that The Hawks were prepared to offer Cody Franson a Professional Try Out (PTO) contract, providing that he had not hooked on with another team by the time players began reporting to their respective teams.  Unbelievably, to me anyway, Franson has remained available and will attend The Hawks' training camp on the aforementioned PTO deal.  I talked this guy up two years ago prior to him signing with Buffalo and still consider him a more than acceptable solution.  The greatest difference now is that The Hawks can actually afford to pay him, with Chicago expected to have a few $$ to spend and Franson unlikely to earn a raise from his previous deal.

Let's take a boo at this Franson character and his good and less-good points.
GOOD
- not especially fast but not slow, either, but an agile and confident skater
- decent shot, above average puck mover with considerable power play experience
- still a mere 30 yrs of age
- earned $3mil last season with Buffalo so will likely be had for $2mil or less
- began his NHL gig with Nashville playing behind Weber & Suter and left Music City as one of the most sought-after free agent D-men
- punched above his weight, perhaps, in Toronto at a time when The Leafs were absolutely dismal
- again, exceeded team possession stats with the equally horrible Sabres the last two seasons

LESS GOOD
- while he's a large fella, Franson doesn't really play a large man's game
- somewhat injury prone

The fact that Franson was still available for this PTO audition suggests, I hope, that trying to stick with The Hawks has been his first choice of action all along.  I see Franson as a versatile piece who could potentially be inserted anywhere, although I picture him on a third pairing with another of the middling guys like Kempny or Murphy, or perhaps alongside Forsling.  As mentioned, Franson played the PP a LOT while in Toronto and, although he found himself behind Ristolainen in Buffalo, he knows what he's doing in that regard.  He's also a RH shot, and those don't exactly grow on trees.

Anyway, if all is physically well with Franson and a contract can be arrived at (which I expect has already been agreed to, pending things going alright at training camp) The Hawks might just be okay on D, after all.  It'll still require those middling guys to take a step forward in their development but, even with modest improvement, The Hawks might get away with the group in place right now.

Now go find us a center.