NHL Rumors: Kraken's Captain Finished in Seattle

It's one and done for veteran defenseman Mark Giordano as the Seattle Kraken have announced he will be held out of the lineup as the trade deadline looms next week.

#SeaKraken are sitting Mark Giordano tonight ahead of the trade deadline
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) March 16, 2022

Giordano is being pursued by a number of teams including the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. So far in 55 games in Seattle, 'Gio' has recorded 23 points. He's making $6.75 million against the cap, a number that not many teams can afford without any salary retention.

Giordano joins Montreal Canadiens Ben Chiarot as the latest player to be healthy scratched due to trade talks. It's expected some final offers will come in over the course of the next 48 hours with a transaction being finalized this weekend. So far it appears the Kraken are open to getting creative in trade talks and haven't put a definitive price tag for trading their captain. If it's draft picks, top prospects or young NHL ready players, it sounds like Seattle is open to anything at his point.

Their first season hasn't gone as planned for the Kraken and now it's their first trade deadline. General manager Ron Francis is busy working the phones trying to maximize his assets, tonight he begins to sit out one of the many names players he's expected to move before March 21.