The Toronto Maple Leafs recently re-signed defenseman Mark Giordano to a two-year contract, which carries a cap hit of just  $800,oo0.

Giordano is 38 years old and was acquired by the Leafs from the Seattle Kraken at this year's trade deadline. He scored two goals and 12 points in 20 regular-season games after joining the Leafs and is coming off a contract which carried a $6.75 million cap hit. Before joining the Kraken in the 2021 offseason, Giordano had spent 15 years with the Calgary Flames, with eight of those as the team's captain. He also acted as the Kraken's first-ever team captain for the 55 games he spent with the team this past season.

While Giordano may not be in the same form as a few years ago when he won the Norris Trophy back in 2019, he still played a key role within Toronto's defense group from the time he arrived. The defenseman averaged over 20 minutes per game for the Leafs during the playoffs, getting time on both the power play and penalty kill.

To keep Giordano at this price is a massive win for the Leafs. Giordano obviously could've gotten a much better deal for himself by heading to free agency, but the team's defense group undoubtedly looks a lot better heading into next season with him than it would without him. He can still take on top-four minutes and produces at a really solid rate offensively, without sacrificing defensive stability.

Given his age, nobody would've been expecting Giordano to get anything more than a two-year deal, which is fair term. However, it's obviously the cap hit that makes this such a win for Toronto, which is getting a valuable defender at close to the league minimum.

Keeping Giordano at this price allows the Leafs to turn their focus and cap space to addressing other parts of their lineup in what will be an important offseason. Goaltending is a big question mark, with Jack Campbell due for a big raise as he hits free agency, while Ilya Mikheyev is also set to become an unrestricted free agent. Other key restricted free agents include Ondrej Kase, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall. It's no secret the Leafs don't have a ton of cap space to worth with, but keeping Giordano for the price in which they're getting him gives the organization much more flexibility.

Even in the event that Giordano hits a steep decline over the next two years and the team ends up with other defenders they want to play instead (which is wildly unlikely), it just doesn't matter because of how low his cap hit is. As an absolute worst-case scenario, it could always be completely buried with no repercussions – but, again, the reality is that Giordano is just going to provide much better value than what his contract would suggest.

Giordano is one of a few recent veterans who have taken a pay cut to stay in Toronto, with Jason Spezza and formerly Joe Thornton being other examples. Despite the lack of playoff success, it's clear the defenseman feels confident in the team as he continues to chase a Stanley Cup. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman believes Giordano was actually the one who offered to take even less than what would've been a cap hit closer to $1 million (which was still wildly low), just to give the team a better opportunity to build with a bit of extra cap space.

With Giordano signed, the team does have a pretty clear look at their defense group next season. Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl and now Giordano are all under contract, while Liljegren and Sandin will each receive new deals. We could always see Ilya Lyubushkin re-signed as well, though that seems unlikely.

However, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Leafs look to move one of their defenders for other assets and cap space, given that they have seven NHL-level defensemen. With Giordano signed, the team could move the likes of Holl, given that they have a better defender in Giordano locked up longer and at less than half the price.

Having Giordano back also gives the Leafs some options as to how the team uses their defensemen. He's still capable of taking on a top-four role, but with Liljegren and Sandin still young and continuing to improve, there's always the option to shift Giordano into a slightly smaller role. He can help to shelter matchups for the young defenders, but once the time is right, Giordano could shift down to be a bottom-pairing defenseman at some point over the next two years.

The extension for Giordano is a huge win for the team and does go a long way to help them build back stronger for next season. He brings a ton of leadership experience and despite his age, he's more than capable of making an impact on Toronto's blue line.