Hockey·TRADE ROUNDUP

Maple Leafs deal for Giordano, reuniting him with ex-defence partner Brodie

The Maple Leafs have bolstered their defence, trading for veteran NHLer and Toronto native Mark Giordano, the first captain of the expansion Seattle Kraken. They also acquired Winnipeg's 2022 third-round pick from Vancouver for blue-liner Travis Dermott.

Toronto also trades Dermott to Canucks, who move fellow D-man Hamonic to Sens

The Canadian Press · Posted: Mar 20, 2022 3:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: March 21, 2022

The Maple Leafs traded for veteran defenceman Mark Giordano on Sunday, the first captain of the expansion Kraken in Seattle. (Robb Carr/Getty Images)

Mark Giordano is coming home.

The Maple Leafs acquired the veteran defenceman and Toronto native along with centre Colin Blackwell from the Seattle Kraken on Sunday for two second-round draft picks and a third-round selection.

Giordano should provide grit, responsibility in his own zone and leadership to a blue line that also recently added the hard-nosed Ilya Lyubushkin in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes, and is hoping to get Jake Muzzin back from a concussion before the end of the regular season.

As part of the deal, Seattle is retaining 50 per cent of Giordano's $6.75-million US salary cap hit for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign.

NHL signings and trades

PLAYER STATS: Mark Giordano

The 38-year-old pending unrestricted free agent spent his entire NHL career with the Calgary Flames before being exposed in last summer's Seattle expansion draft.

The Kraken then named Giordano, who has six goals and 23 points in 55 games this season, as the franchise's first captain.

The NHL trade deadline is set for Monday at 3 p.m. ET.

The Leafs also made another move Sunday, shipping depth defenceman Travis Dermott to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in 2022.

PLAYER STATS: Travis Dermott

Giordano, who also served as Flames captain, will be greeted by at least one familiar face in Toronto's locker room after spending plenty of time lined up alongside Leafs defenceman T.J. Brodie in Calgary.

Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas told reporters earlier this month his focus would be on trying to upgrade the team's back end.

Giordano, who won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman at age 35 in 2019, has registered 149 goals and 532 points in 1,004 regular-season games with the Flames and Kraken. He added seven points (one goal, six assists) in 23 playoff contests for Calgary.

Blackwell, meanwhile, had eight goals and 17 points in 38 games with the Kraken this season. The 28-year-old, who scored shorthanded against Toronto earlier this month, has put up 23 goals and 49 points in 119 games with the Kraken, Nashville Predators and New York Rangers.

The Kraken received second-round picks in 2022 and 2023 along with a third-round selection in 2024 as part of the deal.

The trade with Seattle marks the second time in as many seasons the Leafs have acquired another team's captain one day prior to the deadline after grabbing Nick Foligno from the Columbus Blue Jacket last year.

Toronto, which hasn't won a playoff series since 2004, currently sits third in the Atlantic Division, one point back of the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and two up on Boston.

Mrazek waived

Also Sunday, the Maple Leafs made moves in goal, waiving veteran Petr Mrazek and signing Finnish Olympic gold medalist Harri Sateri for the rest of the season.

Sateri, 32, has played the past three seasons for Novosibirsk Sibir of the Kontinental Hockey League and was in goal for Finland when it won the Olympic gold medal last month. He turned aside 127 of 132 shots in winning five games for Finland.

Sateri previously played with the Florida Panthers, posting a 4-4-0 record with a 2.92 goals-against average in nine games during the 2017-18 season. He spent the following campaign with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League before moving to Russia.

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Mrazek has played in 17 games (15 starts) for the Maple Leafs with a 10-6-0 record with a 3.48 GAA and .884 save percentage. He has allowed at least four goals in each of his four appearances this month.

The 30-year-old has spent 10 seasons in the NHL, five-plus with Detroit and three with Carolina also with a stop in Philadelphia. He owns a 138-102-31 record with 24 shutouts, a 2.64 GAA and .909 save percentage.

Senators add blue-liner Hamonic

In other trade news, the Ottawa Senators have acquired defenceman Travis Hamonic from the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft.

The 31-year-old had three goals and four assists in 24 games with Vancouver this season.

PLAYER STATS: Travis Hamonic

Hamonic has registered 43 goals and 205 points in 699 regular-season contests with the Canucks, New York Islanders and Calgary Flames. He has one goal and three assists in 22 playoff games.

The third-round pick heading to Vancouver in the deal announced Sunday originally belonged to the Canucks before it was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights and subsequently flipped to the Senators.

PLAYER STATS: Nick Paul

Hamonic signed a $6-million, two-year contract with the Canucks in July.

The Senators made another move later in the day, shipping Nick Paul to Tampa Bay for forward Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round pick in 2024.

Jets re-acquire Mason Appleton from Kraken

Mason Appleton is back with the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets have acquired forward Appleton from the Seattle Kraken for a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft.

The 26-year-old from Green Bay, Wisc., had six goals and 11 assists in 49 games for the Kraken this season. He was selected by Seattle in last year's NHL expansion draft.