*Photo from Bleacher Report*
The first captain of the Seattle Kraken didn't even last a full season. The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired D Mark Giordano and C/RW Colin Blackwell from the Kraken in exchange for two second round picks and a 3rd round pick, according to Ryan Leslie of Sportsnet. Both teams have confirmed the trade.
Giordano said of being moved to Toronto that "I think just looking at it the past couple of weeks, I think the Leafs were on my radar as one of the teams I might get traded to and one of the better teams in the league. So to be able to be part of this going forward and, yes, it being my hometown team is obviously a huge bonus, but to be able to come to a team that has a really good shot at obviously making some damage or creating some damage in the playoffs is something I'm really excited about."
The Maple Leafs are getting Giordano, a leadership face in the locker room with solid defensive numbers on the ice, who is a pending UFA and in the final year of a 6 year, $6.75 million deal he signed with the Calgary Flames, being chosen as the Kraken's first captain prior to the regular season. Blackwell is also a pending UFA, at a $725,000 cap hit.
Giordano was held out of Seattle's last two games due to trade speculation, and, when he was on the ice, he contributed 6 goals and 17 assists, with a -21 rating in an ATOI of 21:29 this season, playing in 55 games. In 1,004 regular season games, Giordano has 149 goals and 383 assists, with an ATOI of 22:36 and a +80 rating.
Blackwell is a grinder forward, with a career high of 12 goals in the 56 game 2021 season, with the New York Rangers. This season, Blackwell has 8 goals and 9 assists, with a +1 rating in an average of 12:29 of ice time. He has 23 goals and 26 assists in 119 regular season games, split between 4 seasons and 3 teams.
In Toronto, Giordano is slated to slide into either the second or 3rd defense pairing, playing alongside either TJ Brodie or Justin Holl. Blackwell will likely slot somewhere on the Maple Leafs bottom 6, more than likely the 4th line.
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