No. 3: Marc Giordano
The 38-year-old has a no-move-clause, makes $6.75M and is the captain of the Seattle Kraken. All three of those things would point to him staying on the west-coast, but if Seattle want to better their franchise, they may be inclined to move him.
That contract is big, but the closer you get to the NHL Trade Deadline, the cheaper it becomes, so there is a way in which the Leafs can afford him. Instead of going through the hypothetical trades that could get Giordano to Toronto, let’s just talk about the player himself.
“Gio” will reach the 1,000 game mark this year (if healthy), but only has 23 games of playoff experience. Despite being an leader for Calgary for more than a decade, the team rarely made the playoffs during his tenure.
Despite the lack of playoff experience, Giordano is a leader and one thing that may help get to Toronto, is the fact that he’s from here. With one or two seasons left in the tank for his career, Giordano could put Toronto on his trade-list as a destination where he’d like to try to win a Stanley Cup.
Even though he’s almost 40-years-old, his offensive production hasn’t faltered in Seattle and that could be very valuable on the Leafs second power-play. Not only that, but he’s a player you could rely on during crucial moments of a playoff game, instead of looking at Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren or Travis Dermot to be that player.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Giordano, it could be the missing piece that helps them find playoff success later this Spring.