Mark Giordano waiting through uncertainty of trade discussions

Mark Giordano on trade deadline

Kraken defenseman Mark Giordano discusses the upcoming trade deadline in the NHL as he's being held out of games amid discussions on his future.

SEATTLE - Seattle Kraken defenseman and team captain Mark Giordano will not play against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday as the team continues to hold him out of games ahead of Monday's NHL trade deadline.

Giordano, 38, knows it's highly likely he'll be playing elsewhere come next week.

"Honestly, just living like day-to-day, hour-to-hour, to be honest now that it's getting so close to the deadline," Giordano said on Friday. "Trying to come to the rink, be around the guys as much as possible and put in some work too. It's weird. I've never been through this before."

The Kraken held Giordano out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning as trade discussions swirl around the former Norris Trophy winner. Head coach Dave Hakstol confirmed that Giordano would not play against the Red Wings either.

"We'll stay on the same pattern with him," Hakstol said.

The Kraken have the second-worst record in the league with just 42 points through 62 games. Only the 41 points of the Montreal Canadians is worse.

Giordano is in the last year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. He wants to play for a winning team and the Kraken seem amenable to moving him before the deadline. Nevertheless, Giordano doesn't like sitting out.

"No matter what reason you're sitting out for, it just doesn't feel great," Giordano said. "Obviously knowing my situation and having good conversations with Ron (Francis) and the coaches, it's probably the right thing to do."

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Giordano has 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in 55 games played for Seattle this season. After an uneven start to the year that was exacerbated by a 10-day stint on the COVID-19 list, Giordano has really played well in recent months. He's scored 15 points in his last 30 games played with three goals over that span, two of which were short-handed.

Giordano said he's enjoyed the chance to help build the foundation of the Kraken franchise after 15 seasons with the Calgary Flames.

"I'm happy to be a part of something, like building something here," Giordano said. "To be named captain is something I don't take for granted and for the organization to put the 'C' on my jersey this year means a lot. I look at a lot of relationships I made this year, the guys I had never met before. So it's been a pretty cool experience. I know, obviously, we didn't get the results we would have wanted, but I do think there are a lot of positives to take away from the way this thing was built and is being built."

The NHL trade deadline comes at 12 p.m. PT on Monday. There's no guarantee that a trade does materialize, but Giordano is waiting to see if a trade does get completed.

"You don't know where you're going so really at the end of the day just waiting and seeing what happens, if anything happens," he said. "You never know for sure that a trade is going to happen, but it's obviously leaning that way. After all is said and done, it's going to be a quick turnaround for my family, but I'm sure we'll have lots of help."

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