Leafs behind Franson chatter?

The Cody Franson trade rumours don’t make a lot of sense to me. Unless the Leafs are starting them, hoping to reduce the price of the restricted free agent. Franson made a lot of progress in his first full year under Randy Carlyle … In his one season with the Marlies on an AHL contract — which meant he could have left any time to play with an NHL team — at least 18 teams contacted Paul Ranger, hoping to sign him. His answer was always no. Ranger should be one of the Leafs’ six defencemen come October … Once it was determined Jake Gardiner was not available, the player the L.A. Kings wanted most from the Leafs in the Jonathan Bernier trade was defenceman Carl Gunnarsson.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/07/27/incredibly-blue-jays-encarnacion-was-up-for-grabs