Report: This trade deadline acquisition has been a huge bust.

Predators GM David Poile thought he had made a great deal on Feb. 15 when he acquired some old faces, ex-Nashville forward Mike Santorelli and defenseman Cody Franson from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Santorelli has proven to be a great pickup depth-wise, but Franson has been anything but good since being acquired by the Preds. The 27-year-old was supposed to be the key to the deal had six goals and 32 points in 55 games at the time of the trade and was averaging more than 21 minutes TOI per night. Following the trade, Poile called Franson “a veteran defenseman who could play in all situations,” adding he’d “seamlessly fit into our team.” Since the trade, Franson's production has been disastrous. From the Tennessean: In the past five games, he has been benched twice. Against the Tampa Bay Lightning last Thursday, Franson didn’t take a shift in the third period, receiving a season-low 7:15 of ice time. Saturday, Franson’s last shift ended on Stars forward Colton Sceviour‘s goal at 7:28 of the third period, a play in which he failed to clear the puck from in front of the crease. Franson is averaging nearly six fewer minutes of ice time per game with the Predators than he did with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here’s the Sceviour goal: [iframe id=""] It could be alleged he (and Santorelli, to a certain degree) have actually disrupted team chemistry. The Preds were 38-12-6 at the time of the trade, and just 9-10-4 since. Franson is known as being strong in possession and offence. However, his points-per-game average has fallen from 0.47 to 0.14 since becoming a Predator. With defencemen the likes of Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and Seth Jones on the roster, one can chalk up Franson's lack of production to fewer chances. However, that makes him seem like an average player who excelled on a poor team. Franson will have a few more chances to try and turn things around in the postseason. but with him riding the bench more and more recently, it has yet to be seen how often he will be deployed. One thing is certain, this trade is an unmitigated disaster as of now.