Mark Giordano stays with Toronto Maple Leafs; inks two-year deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Sunday that they’ve extended defenseman Mark Giordano for two years. His new contract comes with an AAV of $800,000 against the cap.

Giordano, 38, is an Ontario native who scored 35 points in 75 games last season with the Seattle Kraken and the Leafs. During the Leafs 7 game elimination at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning he added two assists.

For his career, Giordano has amassed 544 points in 1024 career games, mostly with the Calgary Flames.

Toronto has a projected $6.2M in cap space for the 2022-23 season.

Mark Giordano wanted to play for the Maple Leafs

Toronto gave up a second-round selection in the 2022 NHL draft, a second-round choice in 2023 and a third-round selection in 2024 to Seattle in the trade deadline deal to acquire Giordano.

Leading up to the trade, many speculated that Giordano would go back to the Calgary Flames. However,  a stipulation in the CBA regarding the expansion draft had Calgary only able to trade for him is they assumed his full cap hit.

When it was time for him to make the deal, Kraken GM Ron Francis gave the veteran the courtesy of where he wanted to land. Since he could not go back to the Calgary Flames, he wanted his childhood team the Leafs.

“It has been a team I’ve followed my whole life,” Giordano said. “There’s a lot of history with this organization, but it’s special to be able to say that you’re from here and you played for the (Maple Leafs).”

And now, he can finish his career there.