Giordano signing means changes likely to come on left side
Sandin could be used as trade chip to upgrade another area of need
Now that Mark Giordano is back in the fold — taking the Jason Spezza Special hometown discount con- tract — Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has some interesting choices ahead of him.
The starkest is on defence, where the left side looks a little over- crowded with Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Giordano and Rasmus Sandin each expecting significant playing time, but room, really, for only three.
The GM also faces a salary cap crunch with up to eight players to re-sign or replace, and only $7.3 million (U.S.) or so with which to do it. Key among them: goalie Jack Campbell, forward Ilya Mikheyev and perhaps defenceman Ilya Lyu- bushkin.
The Giordano deal — at a teamfriendly cap hit of $800,000 — gives Dubas options to deal with a cap crunch and roster holes that he hasn’t had in previous off-seasons.
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.
And his return is probably terrific news for right-handed defenceman Timothy Liljegren, who blossomed when paired with Giordano down the stretch. But it might not be such good news for Sandin, the other young Swedish defenceman the Leafs have been grooming.
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.
Sandin played well in his first full year in the NHL — he certainly seemed ahead of Liljegren on the depth chart. His competition for playing time for most of the season was Dermott, another lefty, and a relative youngster who had his share of struggles until he was finally traded.
Sandin benefited with playing time as well with multiple injuries to Muzzin. The Muzzin injury spurred the Giordano trade — insurance for the playoffs.
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.
So what is to become of Sandin? There could be an opening on the right side, especially if Lyubushkin doesn’t return or Justin Holl is moved to free up the $2 million in cap space he occupies. T.J. Brodie — another lefty — thrives on the right side. Liljegren, as mentioned, paired well with Giordano. Maybe Sandin can work on that side as well, part of the learning curve that benefits him down the road.
More likely, Sandin — and this is where the business side kicks in — instantly becomes trade bait. He’s the kind of promising, young, skilled, puck-moving blueliner a lot of teams would love to get their hands on.
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? Dubas has already said he’d explore all options to make his team better. That may be one of them.
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.
The Leafs could have been built on younger players pushing out older players. Remain competitive while replenishing the prospect pool. But Dubas believes in Rielly — who has emerged as the soul of the team. Rielly’s no-movement clause kicked in this season and remains in place for the first six years of the eight-year, $60-million extension that begins next season.
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.
Muzzin has two years left on his deal, one year left on his no-movement clause. Starting July 1, 2023 the clause becomes a limited notrade deal, in which he must submit a list of 10 teams to which he cannot be traded.
But Muzzin also has a young family and has to weigh the rigours of another season to the risk to longterm health that more concussions might bring.
For once, however, the Maple Leafs have depth at the blue line they have not had before and Dubas can use that to navigate what could be a tricky off-season.