On March 20th, 2022, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded three draft picks to the Seattle Kraken for Colin Blackwell and Mark Giordano. The deal helped Toronto get better defensively before their first-round match-up with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Although the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to beat the Lightning, Blackwell and Giordano played as advertised. While Blackwell faded away a bit in the playoffs, Giordano exceeded expectations. He found chemistry with young defenseman Timothy Liljegren and the two were a hard-working pair on Toronto’s blueline.
Giordano impressed head coach Sheldon Keefe and general manager Kyle Dubas so much that they offered him a two-year contract extension. I can’t confirm the original offer they made to him, but he turned it down. Instead, he agreed to come back for a much lower amount of $800,000 a season. A move similar to what veteran forward Jason Spezza did during his final few seasons in Toronto. (Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)
He is taking less money to play for his hometown team and allowing management to use the rest of their cap space to improve the team. Although he is not playing with Liljegren as much this season, Giordano is playing exceptionally well, no matter who his defense partner is. With the number of injuries sustained by the Maple Leafs’ defense this season, every defenseman is playing with different partners constantly.
Toronto Maple Leafs Have a Warrior in Mark Giordano
Giordano is playing like a real warrior this season. He never takes a shift off and leaves everything he has on the ice. For a guy near the end of his career at 39 years old, Giordano is showing no signs of slowing down. He is averaging almost 19 minutes a game for the season. With all the recent injuries to other defensemen on the team, he sometimes plays 21 minutes or more.
Through the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first 21 games, Giordano has been on the ice for just five goals against at five-on-five. No other defenseman in the NHL with 200 minutes or more has been on for fewer goals against per minute. The coaching staff, teammates, and fans can feel at ease when Giordano is on the ice. (Stats from hockey-reference.com)
Giordano’s most impressive contribution to the Maple Leafs this season is his shot-blocking. He currently has 48 blocked shots in 21 games. Speaking of blocked shots, 17 of his 48 blocks have come in the team’s past five games.
Those who have followed Giordano’s career will not be surprised by these stats. He consistently registers 100+ blocked shots per season.