Giordano excited to take on a more prominent role in the Leafs' defense this season
Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano was noticeably out of gas in the playoffs, particularly against the Florida Panthers. Giordano, the NHL's oldest active player, recognized that and made changes in the off-season to ensure it didn't happen again this year. He changed his training regimen and his diet and came into camp down five pounds. It was something that Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe also noticed at the start of the season.
"Wasn't happy with how the playoffs went, and that pushed him to have a great summer and make some changes in how he prepared. Gio's been off to a really good start to the season for us, and we don't expect that to change despite the fact he may need to play a little bit more."
With an injury to Jake McCabe, and John Klingberg struggling in a top-four role, Giordano was moved into the Leafs' top-four alongside Timothy Liljegren, who he has mentored since being acquired from the Seattle Kraken at the trade deadline a couple of seasons ago. So far, Giordano and Liljegren have played very well under tougher minutes. For many fans, having Giordano playing more minutes seemed like a nightmare, just due to his age and that he is slower than most of teams' top-six forwards, but Giordano believes that is when he is at his best.
"Caber (Jake McCabe) will be pissed if I say excited," said Giordano in response to playing more minutes.
"Listen. Any player wants to play more, and I'm no different. I'm a lot older than most guys, but I enjoy playing. The more minutes you play, shift after shift, it's more about rhythm than anything, to be honest. And the more of a rhythm you get into, usually you play better and usually you forget about any little mistakes that you made the shift before. So, I think it helps you throughout the game. That's why all the top guys play a lot of minutes."
Prior to McCabe's injury, Giordano was playing the least amount of minutes among Leaf defensemen, but has played 18 and 20 minutes respectively in each of the last two games and even scored against Nashville Saturday night. With McCabe out for Tuesday's game against the LA Kings, Giordano will be tasked with slowing down the number one offense in the NHL as the Kings are averaging 4.38 goals per game.
| POLL |
OCTOBRE 31 | 143 ANSWERS Giordano excited to take on a more prominent role in the Leafs' defense this season Should the Leafs be cautious with playing Giordano so much? |
| Yes | 90 | 62.9 % |
| No | 53 | 37.1 % |
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