Getting Deeper

The Nashville Predators currently hold the top spot in the Central Division.  This is important, as they will take on a wild card team, which means they won't have to deal with either St. Louis or Chicago in the opening round, the two teams that are immediately behind the Predators at the moment.  To give themselves a better chance of staying in first, the Predators picked up a couple of players that were originally draft picks of the team in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday.  Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli were acquired in exchange for Olli Jokinen, prospect Brendan Leipsic, and the Predators' first round pick in this year's draft.

For the Predators, the trade adds depth to the blue line while adding a speedy, versatile forward that can play in most situations.  Franson was with the Predators from 2009-11 before being traded to Toronto while Santorell returns to the team that he played 32 games for before a whirlwind tour that saw him go to Florida, Vancouver and Toronto.  The Predators are still a score by committee group, and Santorelli will give the Predators another player that can step up when needed.

The Maple Leafs, by making this trade, are indicating that they are going into rebuild mode.  Jokinen is likely not going to be in the blue and white, possibly being dangled as trade bait for another team.  The things they wanted were a first round pick, which given that this year's draft is deep with talented players, is a plus, and a top end prospect, which Leipsic has shown this year.  Leipsic is on the small side, but he will provide some offense and be a pain to play against, though given his disciplinary history (he's been suspended a handful of times while playing for Portland in the WHL), there is still some rough edges to smooth out there.  However, he also made the AHL All-Star game this year, indicating that he could be a special player.