HARD TARGET SEARCH: MARK GIORDANO

 

In their search for legit help on the blueline, Edmonton must look everywhere and that includes the team down the QE2. The Calgary Flames are in a different part of their rebuild, and although the price would be high, Mark Giordano could be a perfect fit for the Oil.   

Giordano is in a really productive part of his career. At 30, he’s played over 300 games and displays a wide range of skills and a great deal of leadership. He should be able to play deep into his 30’s and can supply any NHL team with a steady reliable player in all situations.

Here’s this year’s sledgehammer, Giordano is such a nice player. Toughest opposition and some unattractive zone starts (Brodie too) and even with that he’s pretty close to even at Corsi. There’s all kinds of positives—25 minutes a night, six goals on the power play—and he’s a solid defender. The only negative you can find is his size (6.0, 200), but he’s strong enough to win battles.

This is an unusual graph, there’s no one in the "two-way" upper right quadrant and just two in the "shutdown" group. Only Giordano is playing the toughs, which suggests to me the Flames tried a few partners and then moved on. Calgary’s defense isn’t very good here, basically Giordano, Wideman and Brodie, little wonder they’ve added pieces.

Bouwmeester and Butler were the shutdown defenders in 11-12, neither doing a terribly good job. Giordano got the zone start push but still played the toughs—this season really differs only in zone starts—and when they dealt Bouwmeester they moved Giordano into the more difficult role. Considering the quality of the team, and the quality of competition he’s facing, Giordano looks like a pretty solid option. Consistent, with some offensive ability, and he’s a lefthander who could probably work with both Petry and Justin Schultz. He did miss 18 games earlier this season due to injury, but that’s an occupational hazard. 

Note: The Sledgehammer graphs above are here, and thanks to Extra Skater for the playing card.

Yeah.

 

The Oilers have a high draft pick, and the Flames are rebuilding. I’m not going to get into the value of a top 5 pick and Giordano’s worth compared to Michael Dal Colle or Leon Draisaitl, but there should be a deal in there somewhere with additional talent involved to make things equal. 

Mark Giordano closely resembles exactly what the Oilers are looking for this offseason.