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Giordano signing helps Leafs blueline and cap situation |
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The Toronto Maple Leafs signing of former Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano to a two-year contract extension on Sunday did not come as a big surprise since he said last week that he loved playing in his hometown and believed that he could still contribute off and on the ice, but like teammate Jason Spezza, the veteran blueliner backed that up by taking a significant hometown discount.
“We are thrilled that Mark has elected to re-sign with the Maple Leafs.” Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said. “Mark came in at the deadline and provided a veteran stabilizing presence to our back end while vastly improving our defensive play. Everything he does is done to help the team win and that includes a tremendous sacrifice in this contract negotiation.”
The 38-year-old defenseman signed for an average annual value of $800,000 after scoring 35 points (8 goals, 27 assists) in 75 games split between Seattle and Toronto. While Giordano appeared to be showing his age playing over 21 minutes per game with the expansion Kraken (-21 in 55 games), he had more success playing mostly a bottom-pairing role with Timothy Liljegren and Justin Holl (2 goals, 10 assists, and +12 in 20 games and 2 assists in seven playoff games).
"It was just something that the team and myself both expressed that we wanted to work something out if we if we could," Giordano said in an interview on Monday. "I believe that this team is a contender and that was my first thought, but then all the rest of that comes with me being from Toronto and it's been a really great opportunity for my family and all those thoughts went into it and we came up with a deal pretty quickly."
The deal helps bolster a Leafs defense that has been a constant sore spot for years while giving Dubas some room to get some of their young players re-signed this summer.
The expectation was that it would cost Toronto in the neighborhood of $2 million to re-sign Giordano. Both Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin are restricted free agents and Dubas will likely try to get them signed to bridge deals with the club tight against the cap, but the Giordano signing and potentially trading Justin Holl over the summer gives the Leafs some room to maneuver.
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