Getty Mark Giordano of the Seattle Kraken
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be playing postseason hockey for the eighth consecutive season when the Stanley Cup Playoffs get going on April 20. The franchise is still looking for its first title since last winning in 1967.
No matter what happens from late April through June, whether that’s a championship run or another elimination from the playoffs, hockey won’t stop. That means the Leafs will enter the summer sooner than you think with some decisions to make regarding a few upcoming free agents currently under contract with Toronto.
One of those men is the oldest active player in the league, 40-year-old veteran defenseman Mark Giordano. According to analyst Jesse Courville-Lynch of The Hockey Writers, the Maple Leafs “should re-sign” Giordano.
Despite injury issues, Courville-Lynch thinks Mark Giordano (and all of his 40 years of age) has been a valuable player for the Maple Leafs, and even though he might think about retiring, the Leafs should try to convince him to stay with them for another season.
“The Maple Leafs should try to bring [Giordano] back,” wrote Courville-Lynch on April 7. “He may not be the Norris Trophy-caliber defender he once was, but he can still provide stability in the Maple Leafs’ bottom four.”
Giordano is currently part of Toronto’s third defensive pairing, according to Daily Facefoff. The Leafs are using him on the left side of a line that also features Conor Timmins.
Should the Leafs Bring Back Mark Giordano Next Season?
The Leafs acquired Giordano from the Seattle Kraken in 2022 via trade. He is currently in his third season with the Toronto organization. Giordano played 20 games in his first year with the Maple Leafs, then 78 games a year later, and he’s at 44 this year entering the April 11 slate of games.
Through games played on April 10, Giordano has appeared in 44 contests scoring 3 goals and providing 6 assists for 9 total points. He is, however, a positive-9 on the plus/minus column averaging a sizable 16:35 minutes of playing time.
That being said, Giordano’s 0.7 points per 60 minutes are his lowest mark through 16 seasons, per Hockey-Reference.com.
Courville-Lynch thinks that Toronto has enough cap room to fit Giordano’s next deal within it, and also that the defenseman still possesses enough quality to perform at the level demanded by the franchise and its championship-winning goal.
“With a fair amount of money to spend this offseason, there should be no debate about whether to bring him back or not, and they should begin discussing an extension as soon as Giordano says he’s willing to return,” Courville-Lynch wrote.
The Leafs are projected to have $19.38 million in cap space once free agency starts on July 1, according to PuckPedia. Giordano’s current deal pays him just $800k per season.
Mark Giordano Might Have Enough Fuel Left In the Tank
Once considered one of, if not the best, defensive defensemen in the NHL, Giordano has scored 158 goals and 419 assists in 577 games combined throughout his career. He won the Norris Trophy award in 2019 with the Calgary Flames and the Mark Messier Leadership Award one year later.
“Giordano can and will continue providing leadership on and off the ice,” Courville-Lynch believes. “He has proven his worth off the ice as the team captain of both the Flames and the Kraken.”
Courville-Lynch also thinks that Giordano could help the Leafs both on and off the ice and help the younger players of Toronto mold their game around the veteran’s experience and knowledge of it.
“[Giordano] plays a game on the ice that players should model themselves after,” Courville-Lynch wrote. “While his age might scare away some teams and even some fans who question his ability to play at an elite level, this season should show he still has what it takes to be an impact player.”
The Leafs only have three defensemen under contract for next season: Jake McCabe, Conor Timmins, and Simon Benoit. Timothy Liljegren is the only defenseman about to reach restricted free agency with six other blueliners entering it as unrestricted free agents.
If Giordano accepts a minimum deal, he could be worth signing as a readily available and experienced player to bolster the defense corps.