Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mark Giordano expected to return to lineup vs. Blue Jackets
It looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs will have a fully healthy blueline for the first time all season, or at least as healthy of a blueline as they’ll get.
Mark Giordano returns and Ilya Samsonov gets the start for the #Leafs in Columbus tonight.
More on that, a few of Toronto's streaks, lineups and where to watch. ⤵️https://t.co/Ps73C7aeWU https://t.co/Ps73C7aeWU
Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano is expected to return to the lineup on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets after recovering from a broken finger.
Giordano, 40, suffered his injury on November 28th against the Florida Panthers, and has spent the last month recovering from it. Based on the lines and pairings run during Thursday’s practice, Giordano appears to be slotting next to Timothy Liljegren on the blueline.
The Leafs have gone 6-3-3 during his absence while also dealing with injuries on the blueline to Timothy Liljegren and Connor Timmins, as well as John Klingberg who will be out for the remainder of the season.
Giordano has had a bit of a slow start to his season offensively, with just a goal and four assists for five points in 20 games. That pace would give him just 20 points in a full 82-game season, which would be the fewest points he’s had in a non-shortened season since the 2008-09 season when he had 19 in 58 games.
However, Giordano’s still been effective defensively, especially on the penalty kill. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, he leads all defensemen in shorthanded defensive goals above replacement with 7.6.
Giordano was an undrafted free agent signing by the Calgary Flames in 2005 after he had spent a season with their AHL affiliate. Outside of a brief stint in the KHL in 2007-08 season, he spent the next 16 years with the Flames, including eight as the captain of the team, and won a Norris Trophy in 2018-19 before he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft in 2021. After spending part of that season there as the team’s first captain in franchise history, he was traded to the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline in 2022, where he’s since spent parts of three seasons with.
Giordano is currently in the final year of his two-year contract with an $800,000 cap hit, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season.
The Leafs will look to bounce back from their loss to the Ottawa Senators when they face the Blue Jackets, which starts at 7 p.m. EST. They currently sit in third in the Atlantic Division with a 17-9-6 record, and are only six points behind the Boston Bruins for the top spot in the division with a game in hand.