Hello Preds fans; visiting Oilers fan here who's a big Kevin Klein fan.
With the immergence of Jonathon Blum, and with the tremendous defensive depth in your system, it may stand to reason that Nashville would look to deal from a position of strength to address a weakness.
Although, it looks like, from the surface anyway, that the majority of your defensive depth appears to be very strong PMD types, as opposed to shut-down men.
That being said, could Klein be moved in the off-season, and what would it take for Edmonton to land him?
Hello Preds fans; visiting Oilers fan here who's a big Kevin Klein fan.
With the immergence of Jonathon Blum, and with the tremendous defensive depth in your system, it may stand to reason that Nashville would look to deal from a position of strength to address a weakness.
Although, it looks like, from the surface anyway, that the majority of your defensive depth appears to be very strong PMD types, as opposed to shut-down men.
That being said, could Klein be moved in the off-season, and what would it take for Edmonton to land him?
Any thoughts are much appreciated
With the impending loss of Shane O'Brien in the offseason I doubt we move Klein. He is one of our best penalty killers and eats up a ton of minutes on a PK that is ranked top 5 in the league. With SOB moving on I just don't see us letting him go at this point. I'm not saying we shouldn't but logic stands to reason we'd have to replace him and even with the emergence of Blum, we'd still have to have another defenseman emerge for that to become a reality. If you'd like Cody Franson I'd be more than happy to send him your way.
With the impending loss of Shane O'Brien in the offseason I doubt we move Klein. He is one of our best penalty killers and eats up a ton of minutes on a PK that is ranked top 5 in the league. With SOB moving on I just don't see us letting him go at this point. I'm not saying we shouldn't but logic stands to reason we'd have to replace him and even with the emergence of Blum, we'd still have to have another defenseman emerge for that to become a reality. If you'd like Cody Franson I'd be more than happy to send him your way.
Franson's certainly something that Edmonton doesn't have an abundance of on the roster: A big PMD defenceman. Outside of Whitney and the enigmatic, overpaid, "soft-as-Palmolive" Gilbert, there's not a lot of puck-moving ability at the NHL level.
My biggest worry with Cody is his ability to play without the puck. Has his defensive game improved? Is he more willing to play the body now?
And, I guess above all else, what would Franson cost to aquire?
Like him or lump him we have nobody in the system who is ready to step up and fill Klein's role and he does it on the cheap. Unless the team decides to look the UFA route to upgrade him(doubtful) he likely isn't going anywhere.
Franson is showing more defensive smarts, although still gets caught pinching a little too often - he's an O-first Dman, so guess that's too be expected. He's picked up his physical game in the 2nd half of the season - he's never gonna' be Weber, but he at least is starting to use his size some. Still slow afoot.
Klein isn't going anywhere this off-season unless we acquire someone else; he eats PK minutes and the only other experienced guy we got below Suter/Weber is Boullion, and he needs to play 3rd pair minutes, assuming he gets back from the concussion.
Is that for Franson or Klein? Either way, I'll sign the papers, and even throw in a side o' Zack Stortini for your troubles
For Klein of course, Franson isn't going anywhere unless you include Eberle which I know isn't going to happen. So please feel free to take klein off our hands. We need his stupid money elsewhere anyway.
For Klein of course, Franson isn't going anywhere unless you include Eberle which I know isn't going to happen. So please feel free to take klein off our hands. We need his stupid money elsewhere anyway.
Yeah, lets get rid of Klein because he has the occasional bad game. We can give Franson 22 minutes a night against the opposing teams top lines, that would work out great for us.
For Klein of course, Franson isn't going anywhere unless you include Eberle which I know isn't going to happen. So please feel free to take klein off our hands. We need his stupid money elsewhere anyway.
Are you insane? Franson couldn't net us a bag of pucks let alone Eberle. I don't understand how you can sit here and bash on Klein as much as you do yet think Franson hung the moon. Franson is atrocious in the defensive zone. While Klein isn't perfect, he plays against better competition on a nightly basis, eats up minutes and is our number 1 d-man when it comes to TOI on the PK. I'll take Klein any day of the week over Franson. Franson plays limited minutes for a reason, because he sucks defensively.
Yeah, lets get rid of Klein because he has the occasional bad game. We can give Franson 22 minutes a night against the opposing teams top lines, that would work out great for us.
Sorry did I say something that upset you?
Seriously, Klein is replaceable. Franson has a skill set that is NOT replaceable. And for the other guy who posted below you, franson has 23 points this season and frankly is only getting better. Eberle, a forward, has 36 points this season. That's actually pretty close when you think about it. Now I am not saying Eberle for klein straight up, but if you had actually read my post you would've known that.
I've said it once and I will say it again: Klein is replaceable, Franson is not. I hope to god poile trades klein in the offseason.
it is insane to trade a guy making a million bucks that can play 18-20 minutes a night, play the pk, and one of the few tougher guys we have on the team. The guy plays the body effectively, willing to block shots, is a good teammate and has been effective playing with guys who mentally checked out (hamhuis) guys who forget where the blueline is (bouillon) and counted on to help settle kids in (sulzer, blum) and he is only 26 friggin years old. again, i think some of you are spoiled by weber and suter to see the guy is a solid cheap pro that can do many things. does he make dumb plays from time to time? yeah. so does our all world first pair. at a million bucks, you can't replace what he does. and only a 4th round pick for him is what you ask? insane.
as for giving franson more ice time? do we need to really talk about how much of a liability this guys is once he faces a little bit of adversity or pressure in his own zone?
Seriously, Klein is replaceable. Franson has a skill set that is NOT replaceable. And for the other guy who posted below you, franson has 23 points this season and frankly is only getting better. Eberle, a forward, has 36 points this season. That's actually pretty close when you think about it. Now I am not saying Eberle for klein straight up, but if you had actually read my post you would've known that.
Klein *IS* replaceable - we just don't have anyone else right now to play 18-20 mins primarily against top and #2lines and do the heavy lifting on the PK - not SOB, nor Cube, nor Blum, nor the future "rookies". Certainly not Franson.
Franson's skill set not replaceable? Um, Blum already has that covered and more, and Ellis looks to have a better one, too, albeit without Franson's size - which doesn't matter much if he doesn't use it effectively.
IMO, Franson's role has already been determined on this team (offensive dman, limited mins, PP time) and he suites it well, no way Blum ALREADY has Franson's numbers covered plus more. Klein isn't very expendable especially with his contract, yeah he will make mistakes but his PK play is way to important, we shouldn't get rid of him. For now atleast, and he is worth definitely more than a 4th.
Klein isn't readily available, I don't think. The advent of Blum doesn't make him expendable; rather, it makes him a perfect fit for our defense. JB mitigates Klein's big, glaring weakness (puck movement) and is a very intelligent defender. That's what we've been looking for to play with Klein all along, and now that we have it, with all the time we've invested in Klein's development, it would be crazy for us to trade him.
Klein isn't readily available, I don't think. The advent of Blum doesn't make him expendable; rather, it makes him a perfect fit for our defense. JB mitigates Klein's big, glaring weakness (puck movement) and is a very intelligent defender. That's what we've been looking for to play with Klein all along, and now that we have it, with all the time we've invested in Klein's development, it would be crazy for us to trade him.
Klein isn't readily available, I don't think. The advent of Blum doesn't make him expendable; rather, it makes him a perfect fit for our defense. JB mitigates Klein's big, glaring weakness (puck movement) and is a very intelligent defender. That's what we've been looking for to play with Klein all along, and now that we have it, with all the time we've invested in Klein's development, it would be crazy for us to trade him.
See, that makes a lot of sense. Even though I'm a big fan of his, I know Klein has some weaknesses to his game; but, from this outsider's perspective anyway, he really does seem to fill a need in Nashvile, and I know he would surely help to shore up Edmonton's beleaugered penalty kill. However, I wasn't expecting such a broad range of opinion in the guy though...
That being said, who do you think becomes expendable in the off-season? From the looks of it, Josi and possibly Laakso are ready for NHL duty, and Ellis is coming in the pipeline...maybe not next year, but soon. Will Poile look to deal a roster d-man, a prospect, or wait it out to see who may grab a spot in camp?
