MARK'S MULTIPLIER

Nicholas D'Agostino

On March 20th the Maple Leafs announced that they had acquired defenseman Mark Giordano and forward Colin Blackwell for two second round picks. One in 2022 and the other in 2024. The Leafs made this trade the day before the NHL trade deadline with the hopes of bolstering their backend and improving their fourth line with the addition of scrapy forward Colin Blackwell. So far, I would say the Leafs did very well in this trade and they should be very happy with these two players on their roster for the playoffs.

First off, the main piece of the deal was Mark Giordano. The Leafs went out and traded for Giordano to strengthen their defense. This season, the Leafs had a defensive group who struggled at various points throughout the year. They held a 3.04 goals against per game this season which isn’t ideal, especially for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. In March when the Leafs acquired Giordano they expected him to help their blueline in a couple different ways.

Firstly, front net battles. If you have watched the Leafs at all this year you have definitely seen their problem of letting guys crash their net. This leads to rebound goals and redirections in both the slot areas and in front of their own goal. Giordano is a defender who is strong in front of his net and more than adequate in boxing out players- a trait that bolsters not only his personal stock, but his goalie’s as well.

This is exactly what Giordano did when he joined the Leafs. He brought more of a physical presence in front of the Leafs net which immediately impacted the Leafs defense in a big way. Many people often say that sticking up for your teammates or fighting is contagious and I found that Giordano’s influence in this area encouraged other Leaf defenders to do the same thing. Even when looking at the first three games of this year's playoff it is evident Morgan Rielly has become increasingly physical alongside TJ Brodie and Timothy Liljegren to name a few.

Secondly, Girodano has helped take some duties away from other Leaf defenders. Before Giordano, Muzzin and Rielly were the Leafs top two defenders who played on the left side. Time and time again, they have been relied upon to eat up big minutes and step up in big situations all year. With the addition of Giordano, some of those duties have been split up between the three of them.

Most notably, this pre-deadline move helped Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin, who has been a question mark all year long. Enabling Muzzin to get more of a feel on the backend is one of the reasons the Leafs felt they needed another steady presence of defense. In particular, Giordano has helped out on the Leafs penalty kill numerous times which has helped free up Rielly for more time 5 on 5 - an area where he is a much better contributor for the Maple Leafs. Overall, Giordano has given the Leafs a solid option on their third pair that they can trust in all situations.

Lastly, versatility, experience and leadership- all of which can be found in the novel hometown blueliner. He is a two-time former captain, has over 1000 games of NHL experience and can play up and down on the Leafs defensive pairings. Giordano may not have much playoff experience under his belt, but he has played many games in his career where the stakes appeared to be at an all-time high for his team to perform.

Coming over to the Leafs, Gio has brought his leadership qualities to a group that already has many other leaders. What sets the longtime Flame apart from the rest of the Leafs veteran core is his ability to lead in different ways- something that the other members of the Maple Leafs struggle to do.

He has brought a physical presence on the ice and a strong defensive mind and high hockey IQ to accompany his size. All of Giordano’s qualities have helped various Leafs, especially on the defensive end. This can be seen with Giordano’s effect on Timothy Liljegren. Ever since Giordano has come to the Leafs, Liljegren looks like a different player. He has shown development in many areas of his game and it seems as though some of Giordano’s qualities are rubbing off on Liljegren.

When we look at this trade we focus on Giordano but let’s not forget about depth forward Colin Blackwell. He is a sneaky good pickup for Kyle Dubas as he has quickly possessed the role of being a solid, energetic guy on that fourth line. Blackwell seems as though he has grabbed a permanent spot in the Leafs bottom six as most of his time here in Toronto has been spent mending that fourth line.

In the first three playoff games of the Leafs first round series, I thought Blackwell did a very good job of providing the Leafs with a mix of physical play and energy which is exactly what you want to see from your fourth line at this time of the year.

The final question when looking at this deadline deal is: does this make the Toronto Maple Leafs a better team? I think there is no doubt that the answer is yes. They get a forward who can contribute in their bottom six and a real solid defenseman who can play anywhere in their lineup. With the playoffs in full swing, I believe these guys will be key factors in pushing the expiration date forward on the Leafs season.