S2 Giordano Review

First review so be nice! Games played were in Div. 2 and against equally skilled opponents with semi-stacked squads (Richards high without base players).

He played on my second d line as a LD, on the second powerplay unit as a RD and on the second penalty kill all with TOTW Jones (88),

Active Synergies are: Cycle Game, Team Wheel, Team Shot Block, It’s a Trap Stats: 5 GP; 1 G, 2 A, 3 Pts, 0 PIM, +6

Card link: https://hutdb.net/17/view/12566

His synergy: 1 Powerhouse (inactive) (Team synergy; +4 Slap Shot Power, Wrist Shot Power)

Skating: 7.5/10 w/o syn. w/ syn. Acceleration 89 92 Agility 89 98 Balance 88 92 Endurance 90 92 Speed 89 92

As in real life, he is a decent skater who relies on awareness to get in the right spot at the right time. With my active synergies, agility is almost maxed out so I can’t comment on how he handles as a stock model but with 98 agility, he obviously turns on a dime. He has an average size and weight of 6’0’’ 200lbs and his speed certainly doesn’t live up to a 92/92 expectation. He was no match for Bure and clones and not much for rushes. Wasn’t bad but nothing more than average.

Defense: 7.25/10 Defenses Physical w/o syn. w/ syn. w/o syn. w/ syn. Def. Awar. 91 94 Aggres. 88 88 Block 90 94 Body Check 88 88 Stick Check 91 94 Durability 86 90 Strength 88 88

Giordano was no match for fast players although having a few extra steps was enough to get past him. He did none of the basics great but none badly; position, pokecheck, stick lift, blocks were all good. The physical aspect left much to be desired. He didn’t stand out with his checking but since I play a poke check spam game, it didn’t matter that much. Whenever checking was needed, he was able to use the body but his strength was not enough to knock the average to bigger bodies (Anything ranging from Keslers to Lindroses) with good puck control. Physical gets a 6 and Defense gets a 8.5 so averages to 7.25.

Passing and Hands: 7/10 w/o syn. w/ syn. Deking 85 85 Hand-Eye 85 85 Passing 90 92 Puck Control 90 92

This one is always a bit tricky to grade. He was reliable for passing and puck control but very average for deking and hand-eye. Had no trouble with short and long passes. His deking ability is average and Hand-eye just barely good enough.

Shooting: 6/10 w/o syn. w/ syn. SSA 85 85 SSP 88 88 WSA 86 86 WSP 87 87

Nothing to see here! He is no more than averagely average. Still managed to score one but it was with a wrist shot from the slot. He won me that game but I wasn’t the biggest fan of his point shots. Power is average and aim is average as well. Just not something that stands out and not really worth it for this category. There are superior choices out there, for example, his partner TOTW Jones 88 was way better.

Senses: 7.5/10 w/o syn. w/ syn. Disc 81 84 Off. Awar. 89 89 Poise 86 86

Discipline is average but still high enough to prevent dumb penalties (I’m looking at you Biz). Offensive awareness is good so he’s always at the right spot. Poise at 86 is… does anybody know exactly what it does? If it’s the ability to be as good as he needs to be in clutch situations, I guess he does good enough considering he scored his lone goal in OT.

Conclusion: I don’t see his synergy being the most popular going forward (+4 to shot power) but it’s a team synergy so at least there’s that even if it’s a 8 point one. In general, he does a bit of everything at a decent enough level for the price. He was the highest overall I pulled from packs on expansion day so I decided to have some fun with him in the lineup for a couple games. I do think he can plug a hole in a top 6 role with penalty kill duties if you mostly poke check and are playing in the lower divisions. No clue how much he will end up being worth once the market stabilizes but I think he will be one of the lower end 89s (2-5k coins). I don’t think he fits in a powerplay role because of his shot. There are better options but could still be a top 4 defensemen in an all base gold S2 team.

Thanks guys! If you have questions or comments, please leave one in the comment section. Cheers!