Mark Giordano Returns to Toronto

 

Photo From Daily Hive

With the Leafs holding their season ending interviews at the start of the week I thought that article would be my last for a little while seeing as there really isn’t much going on now untill the Entry Draft and Free Agency, but Leafs GM Kyle Dubas had other plans because this afternoon Dubas and the Leafs announced that the club has reached an agreement on a new 2-year contract with veteran Defenseman Mark Giordano. This deal comes in with a price tag of $800,000 a year each year coming in at a total of 1.6 million dollars. Giordano who was acquired in a trade from the expansion Seattle Kraken honestly fit in right from day one with the Leafs and brought some much-needed stability to the Leafs blue line. We would see him throughout his time as a Leaf Mark was paired with the likes of Liljegren, Muzzin, but a lot of his time was spent paired with Justin Holl. No matter who he was paired with the duo would usually perform well because Mark would simply just focus on what he could control allowing his partner to jump into the rush if it was necessary but when he was paired with Justin Holl it actually worked out positively and a strong example of this can be seen by looking at the seven games played against the Lightning in the playoffs as the series went on Justin Holl’s play was productive because he just focused on making the simple play and instead of trying to maybe force a play that could lead to a turnover. Now, I know many are going to read that and mention a turnover he created or a missed assignment and sure those happened but for the most part Holl when paired with Giordano his play was productive for Sheldon Keefe and the Maple Leafs.

in twenty games with the Leafs Giordano would collect 12 points (2 Goals 10 Assists) and I already know that fans are going to question his production and to those fans you really need to look at the bigger picture. I understand production from the blueline is important for a team, but you also must consider the style of defenseman the player may be. There are some that are offensive minded, former Leaf Jake Gardiner comes to mind, but there are some that are a physical stay at home defenseman where points are few and far between. Mark Giordano at this stage in his career will put up points throughout the season but his job is to shut the opponent down in the Leafs end of the ice. This is his strength and nearly every single time the opponent entered the Leafs zone Giordano would usually take his man off the puck and quickly send it out of the zone forcing the opponent to reset and plan a new attack.

It goes without saying I am very happy to see this deal happen I didn’t expect it to happen today at all, but I am very happy to see it done. With this deal out of the way at pretty much league minimum this is a bargain for Toronto because they are left with a little over seven million dollars to resign a few Restricted Free Agents as well as a handful of UFA’s. Of course, not everyone will be back and there will be changes to this roster for the upcoming season. I have seen online already fans and media members speculating that Ilya Lyubushkin won’t return. I obviously have no idea what Dubas has planned but I personally hope that the man known as the Russian Bear returns because his physical play is something this Leaf team desperately needed but of course it all comes down to a price that is fair for both sides. Lyubushkin played this season split between Arizona and Toronto at a cost of 1.35 Million dollars, if he does resign in Toronto I personally hope it is around that same price simply because as I mentioned in my article the day after losing game seven this team is closer to breaking through then people want to admit and you as a General Manager would hope that you can keep most of this team together without having to make any drastic changes because you never really know how those changes could pan out for your team.

I personally feel that you will see someone on the back end shown the door this summer, and I have seen some insiders and other bloggers suggest that the man on the way out could be Jake Muzzin. I get why he is being suggested because he carries a price tag of 5.6 million dollars, but I have seen people talk about the injuries that have accumulated during his time as a Leaf. To those people I ask you this. If Dubas did try and trade Muzzin, do you really think if he is as banged up as fans believe then do you really think the Leafs would get enough in return? Then you must look at who on your roster or in your system for someone who can replace the minutes that Jake Muzzin played in Toronto. I honestly think trading Jake Muzzin would be a mistake and I think this team is better with him then without him. The defenseman I would look at is Justin Holl, at around 2 million dollars of the two contracts Holl’s is the more tradeable contract, and we know there was genuine interest in Holl around the league. If Dubas was to move Holl then there’s the space where he could give Lyubushkin a new deal and then you can replace Holl by platooning Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin because those two are expected to return on low value contracts for Toronto. As we all know time will tell and we will just have to wait and see what our GM has planned for this coming season but one thing’s for sure it’s going to be fun following along.

That’s all for this one thanks as always for reading and to my readers and followers here in Canada have a safe and happy Victoria Day long weekend.