Mark Giordano and agent connected to the Edmonton Oilers during the offseason

"We're talking to a lot of teams, and he's looking to win, you know. Even Gio doesn't think he has ten years left, so we want to try and win.

We've talked to Edmonton and Toronto, and Toronto's still not sure what's happening with Hakanpaa, and Gio's very patient.

I think Gio's holding firm until he finds an opportunity that gives him a high probability of being in that Stanley Cup Final, and obviously, Edmonton's a good place."

"Mark Giordano has been the oldest player in the league the past two seasons, and despite still being effective is clearly on the decline. Giordano is a left shot, further obscuring a fit on the Oilers."

"Right now you're trying to do two things: Distinguish your client from the rest of the pack that's still out there, and overcome biases. Again, Mark Giordano, he's in the best condition of his life. He went away from the Leafs' training facility because he didn't have a deal with them, didn't want to give any indication he was looking for a deal. If they come talking, they will. He went back to the same training group of trainers that he did when he won the Norris Trophy at age 37. Like, yeah, he's 40 now, but he won the Norris at 37, right? So I feel very strongly that Gio will- he'll not have a Norris Trophy season because wherever he plays, he's not playing for his power play like he did then. But he'll be a very good, top-four, minimum top-six player who outperforms everybody. But I've got to help overcome biases because what's his problem? He's 40. He's 40. So what? He's 40. He was the third in plus-minus on the Leafs and he only played half the season, so he'd probably end up in the top two. He was third among Leaf defensemen in points per minute played at even strength, which is what he played for the most part. Somebody's going to get a real bargain."

"Stan Bowman, to go back to the Michal Rozs�valstory, I told Stan right off the bat, Rosie number two, man. Somebody goes down one or two games, third game, fourth round, Gio will have the experience to step in and be the Michal Rozs�val, fill that hole for a game or two. He might be the difference. I think Stan's buying it, but they've got seven defensemen they're toying around. Some think they should have an extra one in case they get injured because there's no depth with Ceci and Broberg gone, but that's a decision that ends up getting made as they're, you know, facing the music when camp starts and they now have to actually look at their depth, and in many cases, they're going to go 'Oh my gosh,' you know?"

"Based on all of this, I would consider bringing in Giordano to the Oilers training camp on a PTO. I'm not overly confident in the Oilers defensive group, and there's a lot of uncertainty on how the new defencemen will fit into the roster, what roles they'll have and what the pairings could be like.

Giordano has been fairly consistent the last few years, playing a depth role for his last 200 games and helping keep the puck going in the right direction at even-strength. He's also someone that can help with the penalty kill, and potentially mentor some of the younger players who need to emerge from the Oilers prospect pool.

Because of the inefficient contracts, and unbalanced roster, management needs to be actively looking for inexpensive roster players and squeeze out as much value as possible."