Now that Mark Giordano is back in the fold — taking a hometown discount contract — Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has some interesting choices ahead of him.
Now that Mark Giordano is back in the fold — taking the Jason Spezza Special hometown discount contract —The starkest is on defence, where the left side looks a little overcrowded with Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Giordano and Rasmus Sandin each expecting significant playing time but room, really, for only three.
On the ice, Giordano is the ideal third-pair left-side blueliner. A mentor and leader who rarely makes mistakes. Even at 38, he can kill penalties and run a power play. He may have lost a step, but the evidence showed he made up for that with smart positioning and good overall hockey IQ. Both Sandin and Liljegren are restricted free agents, neither with much bargaining power, and should return to the fold at reasonable cap hits. It would be a shock if either earned more than the $1.5 million Travis Dermott earned in a similar situation last year. Closer to $1 million is probably the target Dubas has in mind.
A late season knee injury sidelined Sandin. The Giordano-Liljegren pairing took off. Healthy once the post-season started, it was believed Sandin was quite upset not to see any action in the playoffs. If Campbell, for example, prices himself out of Toronto — as Zach Hyman did last year — could Sandin be the key component in a trade package for a No. 1 goalie?At one point, Sandin was deemed to be Rielly’s heir apparent. Some believed it might have been wise to move Rielly as he hit his prime. That would have opened up cap space, and provided a solid return on investment in terms of draft picks, prospects or solid NHLers at other positions.
Muzzin is another to keep an eye on. The 33-year-old was terrific in the post-season, but banged up with two concussions and an upper body injury in a regular season limited to 47 games. That in itself may be reason enough to keep Sandin around, simply expecting one of the other defencemen to get hurt.
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