The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a huge splash with just under 24 hours to the NHL’s trade deadline with a hometown talent returning to the six.
The Leafs have acquired defenseman Mark Giordano from the Seattle Kraken, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli confirmed Sunday. Details of the deal were not yet known.
On Thursday, Seravalli reported Toronto was Giordano’s preferred destination.
Named captain of the Kraken ahead of its inaugural season, the Leafs are getting a veteran rearguard who has a lot of familiarity with defenseman T.J. Brodie. The pair played together with the Calgary Flames, and it’s safe to assume that’s something the Leafs coaching staff will look to.
Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the pair played 1,704 minutes together and posted strong results. With them on the ice together at 5×5, the Flames had controlled 55.94 percent of the shot attempts, 58.87 percent of the goals scored and 54.73 percent of the expected goal share.
On his own, Giordano has continued to put up good numbers with the Kraken this year. With him on the ice at 5×5, the Kraken controlled 51.93 percent of the shot attempts, 41.89 percent of the goals scored and 49.73 percent of the expected goals. These numbers have been sunk with some very poor goaltending by Seattle this season.
According to hockeyviz.com, Giordano is still having good isolated impacts. At even-strength, he contributes offence at a one percent rate below league average and defense at a four percent rate above league average.
Giordano, a UFA at the end of this season, carries a cap hit of $6.75 million.
Last Wednesday, the Kraken honored Giordano for playing in his 1,000th NHL game.
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