Giordano had his first full practice with the team since he broke his finger on Nov. 28 vs. the Panthers.
Giordano had his first full practice with the team since he broke his finger on Nov. 28 vs. the Panthers.
Mark Giordano says he's ready to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs' lineup.
The 40-year-old defenseman has skated in a few of Toronto's morning skates, and on Friday participated in his first full practice with the team since suffering a broken finger in late November.
"I feel as good as can be," he said following Thursday's practice.
"I think our staff, like off-ice training, right to our medical staff, right to on-ice training, I think it's been a nice one in the fact that I've been able to skate a lot. I really didn't take too much time off the ice, so that's been good. But I feel ready to go and we'll see how everything goes throughout the day, but I feel good."
Giordano took in a full morning skate with Toronto before Wednesday's game against the Ottawa Senators. Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the skate that the veteran defenseman was "definitely close."
Following Toronto's practice on Thursday, Keefe said the expectation is that Giordano will play in Columbus on Friday.
"He looked good," said Keefe. "I'd expect he'll be ready to go tomorrow."
The 40-year-old veteran defender is the NHL's all-time leader in blocked shots with 2,128 and said on Thursday that it's always the "softest shots" that hurt you.
"I think I broke my ankle earlier in my career on just like a muffin off the wing, too," Giordano said. "This one [that broke my finger] wasn't a hard shot, I think it just got me in the right spot."
As it's expected that the 40-year-old returns to the lineup on Friday in Columbus, it appears as though he'll come into the lineup for William Lagesson, skating on a pairing with Liljegren.
With several injuries on the Maple Leafs' back end, a few depth players, such as Simon Benoit and Lagesson, have stepped into a larger role. Benoit has averaged over 15:00 of ice time with Giordano out, while Lagesson has averaged a near-similar total.
"Whoever's been in the lineup has done a great job," Giordano said on Thursday. "I think [Benoit] and [Lagesson], and even [Timothy Liljegren] when he came back from injury, I think just stepped right in pretty seamlessly, so it's been pretty good."
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