Mark Giordano was chosen over Rasmus Sandin to start the season on PP2 after he assumed to role when he first arrived in Toronto in March.
MONTREAL — The Toronto Maple Leafs have elected to have Mark Giordano quarterback the team’s second power play unit when they open their NHL season against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
“I think you’ll continue to see different people at different times there,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “But in Gio’s case, he’s obviously got a lot of experience there and we really like what he brought to that unit when he came in last season.”
Giordano was acquired by the Maple Leafs on Mar. 20 from the Seattle Kraken and quickly took over second power-play duties when Rasmus Sandin injured his knee against the Nashville Predators just one day prior.
“He’s a little bit more willing to shoot the puck from the top and does a good job there of doing that,” Keefe said of his preference of Giordano. “Particularly on the second unit when they get out there they don’t have a lot of time. So having a little more of a shot mentality was important.”
Although Sandin hasn’t played in a meaningful NHL game since Mar. 19, he also missed the first 10 days of training camp before coming to terms on a new two-year, $2.8 million contract with the Leafs.
It is likely that Sandin will still get reps on the power play, but not in the traditional sense.
When Giordano joined the team, he spent some time on PP2 with his regular defensive partner, Timothy Liljegren. This was adopted as a technique to ensure the club wasn’t caught in transition as power-play time expired.
Given that Sandin is now taking the role of Liljegren (out until mid November following hernia surgery) on the right side of Giordano, this is a role that you should expect Sandin to assume as well.
“Whether it’s him [Giordano] taking turns with Rasmus and flipping that around a little bit or them playing together which we’ll see two different D on the ice at different times, we want to use both,” Giordano said. “But there’s a different skill set and different experience with Gio being here from Day 1 at camp and has worked with that group and those kind of things. It’s just more natural for that to flow into the season and we’ll continue to work Rasmus in.”
Giordano recorded four power-play assists in 20 games with the Maple Leafs last season, while Sandin had three power-play assists in 21 games with Toronto last season.