Music: {allcanada} Leafs acquire Lombardi and Franson in swap

Sunday, July 3, 2011

{allcanada} Leafs acquire Lombardi and Franson in swap

The Maple Leafs and Predators swapped four players on Sunday as Toronto sent minor league left wing Robert Stanley and defenseman Brett Lebda to Nashville for Mathew Lombardi and Cody Franson.

In addition, Toronto will send its fourth-round pick in the 2013 Entry Draft to Nashville if Lombardi plays a total of 60 games or more over the course of the next two seasons. In the event that Lombardi plays less than 60 games in that span, Nashville will instead send its fourth-round selection from the 2013 Entry Draft to Toronto.

Lombardi, 29, had an impressive 53-point season in 2009-10 with Phoenix, but after signing a three-year deal with Nashville last July he managed to play in only two games due to a concussion suffered in a preseason game. Franson tallied 8 goals and 21 assists last season for the Predators.

"Unfortunately Lombardi's concussion early last season and relatively lack of recovery to date left us in a position of uncertainty heading into this season, which made it difficult for us to plan," Preds GM David Poile told the Predators' website Sunday. "This move allows us more certainty with our roster heading into this season. Now it's my job to build around the strong core we have in place and when the opportunity presents, I'd like to strike to help make that core even better."

Lebda had four points in 41 games last season for Toronto.