SEATTLE — The Toronto Maple Leafs have agreed to acquire veteran defenseman Mark Giordano and forward Colin Blackwell from the Seattle Kraken, the team confirmed Sunday.
Giordano is joining his hometown team, which is looking to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1967. The 38-year-old former captain of the Kraken and Calgary Flames brings additional leadership to a core that has not won a playoff series in several attempts.
The two players were traded to Toronto in exchange for two second-round draft picks - one in July and another in 2023 - and a third-round pick in 2024.
Seattle retains half of Giordano's $6.75 million annual average value per his contract, which ends this season. His salary represented 8.3% of the team's payroll.
"We want to thank Mark for his time with the Kraken," said General Manager Ron Francis. "As the organization's first captain, he made an immediate and lasting impact both on and off the ice.
While he recently played his 1,000th NHL game, Giordano has dressed in only 23 playoff games in 16 NHL seasons. His 24th could be part of one of the most scrutinized series in recent history with the pressure again on the Maple Leafs to advance.
It could come against the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning or the Florida Panthers, who made another move before the Monday's trade deadline and may not be done loading up for a long run. The Panthers acquired defenseman Robert Hagg from the Buffalo Sabres for a sixth-round pick in the draft this summer.
Eastern Conference-leading Florida already traded for Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux and Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot. With Aaron Ekblad injured and expected to miss at least two weeks, the Panthers could put their top defenseman on long-term injured reserve for the rest of the season and use the salary cap space to accumulate more talent.
Hagg, a 27-year-old Swede, has six seasons of NHL experience and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Florida general manager Bill Zito called Hagg “a tireless competitor” who adds a physical element to the blue line.
The Maple Leafs and other teams used Sunday to position themselves for moves before the deadline. Toronto signed Olympic gold medal-winning Finnish goaltender Harri Sateri and put struggling veteran Petr Mrazek on waivers.
Sateri, 32, signed a pro-rated $750,000 contract for the rest of the season. He needs to clear waivers before joining Toronto, so any other team around the league could claim him and mess with the Leafs’ latest plan to fix their goaltending woes.
Seattle also sent defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to Nashville for a 2022 second-round pick and forward Mason Appleton to Winnipeg for a 2023 fourth-round pick. The Predators and Jets are fighting with the Dallas Stars and others for the final playoff spots in the West.
Appleton played his first three seasons for the Jets before being selected by Seattle in the expansion draft.
