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The Toronto Maple Leafs remain in discussions with veteran defenseman Mark Giordano.
Giordano completed his two-year deal with the Maple Leafs and at age 40, he has said he wants to play in the 2024-25 NHL season. The veteran defenseman still doesn’t have a contract, but his agent, Ritch Winter went on The Eric Francis Hour of Flames Talk on September 6 and revealed the Leafs remain in contact with Giordano.
“He’s looking to win. Even Gio doesn’t think he has 10 years left, so you want to try and win. There are two ways of going about that,” Winter said. “Sign with a team like Calgary that says has no chance of making the playoffs and be moved to the perfect spot at the trade deadline. Maybe that non-playoff team gets an asset for having you and gets the benefit of you mentoring their kids. We have talked to Edmonton and Toronto. Toronto is still not sure what is happening with (Jani) Hakanpaa, and Gio is very patient. He recognizes the best spot might be two weeks into camp.”
Although Giordano doesn’t have a contract yet, Winter is confident the veteran defenseman will sign with a team soon. According to Winter, the Maple Leafs, the Buffalo Sabres, the Calgary Flames, and the Edmonton Oilers have been in contact with Giordano.
Last season with the Maple Leafs, Giordano skated in 46 games recording 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points. He won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 2019. In his NHL career, Gordano has skated in 1148 games recording 158 goals and 419 assists for 577 points.
Agent Confident Giordano Will Play This Season
Despite Giordano being a free agent since July 1, the veteran defenseman has yet to sign a contract.
Even though Giordano doesn’t have a contract for the 2024-25 NHL season, Winter is confident his client will play in his 19th NHL season.
“I think he will. People are still wondering if he can still play, he’s only a few years removed from a Norris Trophy. Gio is in great shape, he went back to train with a group of trainers that he used when he won the Norris Trophy,” Winter said.
“He’s feeling really good, he was the third-best defenseman on the Leafs in plus-minus last year, only playing half a season. If he kept that pace for a full season, he would have been second. He’s in good shape, we are talking to a lot of teams,” Winter added.
Giordano will likely sign a league-minimum contract if he does get an NHL contract for the 2024-25 NHL season.
Maple Leafs GM Hints at More Moves
Toronto will open its training camp in the middle of September to prepare for the 2024-25 NHL season.
Although the Maple Leafs’ roster is mostly set, Toronto could look to bring in some veteran players on professional tryouts. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has hinted at more moves ahead of camp.
“To me, we’ve still got five weeks or so till camp. And, you know, we’re not set yet. We continue to look at ways to make our team better,” Treliving said on OverDrive on TSN 1050. “I said at the end of the year we’re going to look at everything.
“Sometimes people fall in love with ‘ ‘let’s make a big change just to make a big change’. At the end of the day, you can go out and make big changes,” Treliving added. “If they’re not making your team better, to me it doesn’t make any sense to just make a change just to stand up and say ‘look at it, we made this big change.'”
The Maple Leafs have already signed Stanley Cup-winning forward Steven Lorentz to a PTO, but it’s likely Toronto will add another forward and defenseman.
Toronto will open its 2024-25 NHL season on the road on October 9 against the Montreal Canadiens.
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