Mark Giordano spent eight years as the captain of the Calgary Flames, but recent reports indicate that he could be on the radar of the Edmonton Oilers.
The 40-year-old veteran defenceman spent the last three seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs but has seen his NHL role diminish over that time. Giordano appeared in just 46 games with the Leafs last season and was not able to crack the lineup in all seven of Toronto’s playoff games against the Boston Bruins.
Despite this, Gio’s agent Ritch Winters told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis on the latest edition of the Flames Talk podcast that he has had discussions with multiple teams this summer, including the Oilers.
“He’s looking to win… we’ve talked to Edmonton,” Winters revealed on the podcast. “I told Stan [Bowman] right off the bat… somebody goes down, one or two games, third/fourth round, Gio will have the experience to step in… fill that hole for a game or two, he might be the difference.
“I think Stan is buying it, but they’ve got seven defencemen, they’re toying around… but that’s a decision that ends up getting made as they’re facing the music.”
The Oilers aren’t the only team that Winters has discussed Giordano signing with. In that same segment, Winters name-dropped the Maple Leafs and the Flames as other potential suitors for the veteran.
For the Oilers and Leafs, the appeal of winning the Stanley Cup would be the main selling point, while for the Flames it would be the emotions of a homecoming before ultimately being flipped at the trade deadline to a contending team.
Yet, does adding Giordano make sense for the Oilers? There is no question that the team would prefer to have a better player in the 2RD spot after losing both Cody Ceci and Philip Broberg, but at 40 years old and being a left-handed defender, Giordano wouldn’t be able to do that. Instead, he would most likely slot in as the extra defenceman beneath somebody like Brett Kulak.
Natural Stat Trick paints a fairly positive picture of how Giordano performed with Toronto last season in a diminished role. He managed to have the second-best expected goals-for-percentage (xGF%) from a Leafs defenceman at 54.03 and did a decent job helping drive scoring chances in the right direction.
There is no question that his age and footspeed would be a concern, but given the fact that the Oilers don’t have much depth outside of their NHL option on LD, he wouldn’t be a bad option to pinch hit for a potential injury.
The money on any Giordano deal with the Oilers would have to be low to make it possible, but if he truly wants another shot at the cup, that should be no problem.
We’ll see if Oilers GM Stan Bowman reciprocates the interest as training camp quickly approaches.