It’s official: Mark Giordano is now a Seattle Kraken

It’s official, folks: the Calgary Flames have lost their captain.

Mark Giordano was officially selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on Wednesday evening, ending weeks of speculation that the Flames would be losing his services.

The 37-year-old Giordano was left exposed when the Flames submitted their protection list on Saturday afternoon, opting instead to protect Chris Tanev, Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin. (Juuso Valimaki was deemed exempt from the draft due to missing the entire 2019-20 season due to a knee injury.) Giordano is entering the final year of a six year contract paying him $6.75 million against the salary cap.

Giordano leaves the Flames as one of their all-time leaders in many categories: second in games played (949), 20th in goals (143), fifth in assists (366) and eighth in points (509). He’s been the club’s captain since the beginning of the 2013-14, with his tenure with the C being second behind only Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla in terms of longevity.

Giordano captured hardware during his time with the Flames for his hard work on and off the ice. He won the Norris Trophy in 2018-19, while also capturing the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2015-16, the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award in 2016-17 and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2019-20. He also represented the Flames at three All-Star Games.

We’ll have more on this story, and the Flames’ other off-season moves, as it continues to develop.