SALARY ARBITRATION BETWEEN CODY FRANSON AND THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS BRIEF FOR CODY FRANSON TEAM 17

Transcription

1 SALARY ARBITRATION BETWEEN CODY FRANSON AND THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS BRIEF FOR CODY FRANSON TEAM 17

2 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW...3 A. Strong Offensive Contributor...3 B. True Power Play Quarterback...4 C. Durability...5 II. VALID COMPARABLE PLAYERS...6 A. Jason Demers...7 B. Dmitry Kulikov...9 III. CONCLUSION

3 I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Pursuant to section 12.9 of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, 1 this brief will analyze the value of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Cody Franson. Mr. Franson s has contributed immensely to the Leafs organization as a result of his offensive production, his role as a power play quarterback for the team, and his strong level of durability. As a result of his strong play and status amongst his peers, Mr. Franson should be awarded a salary above the 3.3 million dollar figure, and a reasonable award for a player of his calibre would be 3.7 million dollars. A. Strong Offensive Contributor Mr. Franson has been a strong offensive contributor throughout his career and in particular during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his career, Mr. Franson has tallied 133 points over his 322 career games, 2 for a career points per game average of These are very strong numbers for a defenseman, and Mr. Franson has consistently shown he is able to put up numbers of this calibre. Since coming to Toronto, Mr. Franson has been able to improve on his career average, scoring points at a rate of.46 per game over his 181 games in a Leaf uniform. 4 In fact, Mr. Franson has been such an effective offensive player that he led the team in defensive scoring for the last two seasons, 5 even finishing top ten in the league in defensive 1 NHL CBA ibid 4 ibid 5 tus=&viewname=summary, us=&viewname=summary 3

4 scoring during the season. 6 By all measures, Mr. Franson has been an above-average offensive defenseman throughout his time in the league, and even more so as a member of the Leafs. Beyond just his regular season performance, Mr. Franson has shown the ability to elevate his offensive game to help his team perform in the playoffs. Over 23 career playoff games, Mr. Franson has scored 13 points, an average of.57 points per game. 7 In his most recent playoff series, Mr. Franson s scored three goals, and recorded six points total, in a seven game series with the Boston Bruins. 8 Mr. Franson s contributions helped the Maple Leafs nearly pull off the upset against the favoured Bruins, showing again that he is a strong offensive defenseman who can raise his level of play in the playoffs. B. True Power Play Quarterback Due to his immense offensive skill set, Mr. Franson has developed into a true power play quarterback during his time with the Maple Leafs. Mr. Franson is utilized on a consistent basis on the power play, ranking second on the team in power play minutes per game over the course of the last two seasons, averaging two minutes, 54 seconds of power play time during the season 9 and two minutes, 49 seconds, during the season. 10 Mr. Franson plays a critical, top pairing role on one of the best power plays in the NHL, as the Maple Leafs power 6 &viewname=summary Ibid 9 tus=&viewname=timeonice 10 atus=&viewname=timeonice 4

5 play unit finished in a tie for fifth in power play percentage in the league last season. 11 Far from being a mere passenger on the power play, Mr. Franson contributed immensely, ranking first on the team in power play points by a defenseman. 12 Even more impressively, he finished in a tie for second in power play points amongst all Maple Leaf skaters, outscoring several of the highly regarded forwards on the team. 13 Mr. Franson s power play ability is an incredible asset to the Maple Leafs, as a strong power play is often the difference between winning and losing in an increasingly competitive league. C. Durability Throughout his career, Mr. Franson has been an incredibly durable player. The ability to avoid injury is important trait for a top NHL defenseman to have. It provides both the coach and the organization as a whole a measure of reliability, as the team knows they will be able to put the player into the lineup, night in and night out, through the long grind of the NHL season. Mr. Franson has this level of reliability. Throughout his NHL career, Mr. Franson has never suffered a major injury, and has never missed more than two consecutive weeks of game action with an injury. 14 In his last two seasons as a Leaf, Mr. Franson has only missed a total of 6 games for any reason, showing a remarkable level of durability. 15 All this has contributed to Mr. Franson participating in 322 games in his NHL career. 16 Mr. Franson s durability creates value for the team, as it reduces the need to carry, and play, less skilled depth defenseman ummary 12 ngleaders 13 Ibid Ibid 5

6 Two factors that make Mr. Franson s durability even more impressive are the heavy minute s burden he takes on for the Maple Leafs, and the physical style that he plays with. Mr. Franson was third amongst Leaf defenseman in overall ice time in , logging almost 21 minutes a night. 17 Mr. Franson played heavy minutes in every situation, ranking top three amongst Maple Leaf defenders in total 5 on 5, power play, and penalty killing ice time. 18 League wide, he was one of only twenty defenseman to log more than 125 minutes shorthanded and over 230 minutes on the power play over the course of the season. 19 Additionally, Mr. Franson has avoided injury while playing a very physical game. He has finished in the top ten in the league in hits by a defenseman the last two seasons, including leading the league in the category last season. 20 Mr. Franson s ability to take on a huge minutes load while playing a physical style is very impressive. His ability to do these things without missing games for injury creates a large amount of value for the Toronto Maple Leafs. II. VALID COMPARABLE PLAYERS By his statistical achievements alone, Mr. Franson deserves a salary above that of the 3.3 million dollar midpoint salary. However, when looking at the market value of players that are comparable to Mr. Franson, it becomes clear that he a salary of 3.3 million or below would be an unfair outcome for the player. Two players that carry a profile similar to Mr. Franson, specifically San Jose Sharks defenseman Jason Demers, and Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, have recently signed contracts above the value of the midpoint salary me=timeonice 18 ibid 19 =timeonice

7 A. Jason Demers In July 2014, Mr. Demers signed a two-year contract worth an average of $3.4 million a season. 21 Mr. Demers and Mr. Franson are comparable as they are similar in age (27 for Mr. Franson, and 26 for Mr. Demers,) and they broke into the league during the same season ( ) 22 Despite breaking into the league at the same time, Mr. Franson has played in significantly more games ( ,) than Mr. Demers has. 23 Furthermore, Mr. Franson has outperformed Mr. Demers in the games they have played scoring more points (133-95) and averaging more points per game ( ) 24 Where Mr. Franson has elevated his offensive game in the playoffs, Mr. Demers own game has declined, as he has contributed just nine points in 39 career playoff games, a per game average of just.231 points per game, far off his regular season average of The two players had almost identical point totals last season, with Mr. Demers scoring 34 points, 26 while Mr. Franson scored 33. For both players, this was a career high in scoring, however, only Mr. Franson has shown the ability to consistently produce at this rate. Mr. Demers has been inconsistent offensively over the course of his career, never before scoring more than 24 points, and in one season tallied just three points. 27 Contrast this with the totals of Mr. Franson, who has hit the 29 point mark in two other seasons, and has never scored less than 21 points in a season ibid 24 ibid ibid 27 ibid

8 When looking at power play performance, Mr. Franson stands head and shoulders above Mr. Demers. Despite playing regularly on the power play over the course of the last two seasons, 29 Mr. Demers has only contributed nine power play points. Contrast this with Mr. Franson, who has contributed 31 points on the power play over the past two seasons. Every team will have several defensemen who will take a regular shift on the power play; however, it is a rare luxury to have a defenseman that consistently contributes points in these situations. Mr. Franson is clearly and consistently a player that does this, while Mr. Demers is not. Beyond just offensive performance, Mr. Franson has been tasked with playing a greater role on his team than Mr. Demers. During the season, Mr. Franson s average time on ice was more than a minute per game higher than Mr. Demars. 30 Furthermore, Mr. Franson was deployed more often in key situations, averaging more time per game on both the power play and on the penalty kill. A defenseman that can be consistently relied upon on special teams provides a great deal of comfort to a head coach, and a great deal of value to an organization. Another area where Mr. Franson stands above Mr. Demers is in his ability to play a physical game. Throughout their careers, Mr. Franson has shown a willingness to use his body as an asset, where as Mr. Demers has shied away from the physical aspect of the game. Mr. Franson excels in this area, consistently ranking amongst the league leaders in hits, while Mr. Demers has barely averaged a hit per game in his career. The discrepancy can be further illustrated as Mr. Demers was only credited with 69 hits last season, an average of less than one a game 31, while Mr. Franson had a whopping 282 hits which led all defenseman in this category A&team=SJS&viewName=timeOnIce 30 tus=&viewname=timeonice

9 Despite this, Mr. Franson has been the more durable player, having played in 42 more games over his career when compared to Mr. Demers. Mr. Franson is more offensively gifted, more physical, and more durable than Mr. Demers. He plays a larger role on his team, and plays more frequently in critical situations. For these reasons Mr. Franson deserves a contract with a higher value than the 3.4 million dollars afforded to Mr. Demers. B. Dmitry Kulikov In July 2014, Dmitry Kulikov signed a three-year contract with an average value of 4.33 million dollars. The two players are comparable as they both have played five seasons in the NHL, and because, in that time, they have played roughly the same number of games (322 for Mr. Franson, 313 for Mr. Kulikov.) 33 Over the course of their respective careers, Mr. Franson has been a better offensive player than Mr. Kulikov, tallying 133 points, compared to just 99 for Mr. Kulikov. 34 Mr. Franson has also been better on a per game basis, averaging.413 points per game, to a rate of just.316 per game for Mr. Kulikov. 35 Furthermore, when looking at power play scoring, Mr. Franson has outscored Mr. Kulikov by 20 points (31-11,) over the last two seasons. This is despite the fact that both players played a large role on the power play during this time, averaging over two Ibid 35 Ibid 9

10 minutes per game each on the power play. 36 Mr. Franson has been a greater offensive contributor, and a better power play performer, than Mr. Kulikov over the last two seasons. In addition, Mr. Franson has been a more physical player than Mr. Kulikov, producing 282 hits last season, compared to 125 for Mr. Kulikov. During the season, Mr. Franson produced 124 hits, compared to just 84 for Mr. Kulikov. 37 While there is an age discrepancy between the two players, Mr. Franson s age-23 season ( ,) compares favourably to Mr. Kulikov s most recent, age-23 season. During his age- 23 season, Mr. Franson scored 29 points, while also averaging nearly two minutes per game on the power play. 38 In comparison, Mr. Kulikov, scored 19 points and averaged just over two minutes per game on the power play. 39 For these reasons, Mr. Franson should receive a contract comparable to the average of Mr Kulikov s 4.33 million dollar deal, and no less than 3.7 million dollars. III. CONCLUSION Mr. Franson is a very valuable defenseman in the league. His ability as an offensive player, his contributions on the power play, as well as his level of durability in spite of his heavy minute s burden and physical style of play, make him an invaluable part of the Maple Leafs defensive core. When comparing Mr. Franson to his peers, it becomes clear he deserves an award above the 3.3 million dollar midpoint, and that 3.7 million would be an appropriate award Name=timeOnIce A&team=NSH&viewName=timeOnIce