Interesting take and a bit more balanced than many around here would like, thats for sure.
You do tend to see Rielly/Hainsey get tough assignments and then Zaitsev/Gards get the secondary but when they go into a defensive shell, Babs throws out Zaitsev/Hainsey which accounts for the 39.43 CF away from Gards. Also nice of someone to point out that Gardiner has actually played better with Zaitsev than away from him (and this is more pronounced looking deeper into advanced stats).
Zone exits are still a problem most of the time and I'm hoping the coach's continue to work on those.
While he has struggled on the PK, especially as of late, his numbers allowing scoring chances, especially high danger chances has markedly improved, especially when taking his QoC into account. He also lead the D in +- with a solid QoC and mostly defensive zone starts (for those who like that).
All in all, an OK #4 when you look at the numbers overall but I think he has more to give and we expect more from him. He's certainly not an overpay based on what he provides, despite what many say. Only playing like a 3.5-4 cap hit this year? Burn the witch! Its been crazy talk.
Its too bad Zaitsev has to go through yet another struggle but I'm hoping it clears up soon. We need him as much as anyone for the playoffs.
The lead in to the Matthews article right after that had me smiling bit.
"So far, the Leafs are 8-6-2 without Auston Matthews and 32-16-5 with him (which is a 106-point pace). First off, that’s the value of a superstar and how lucky the Leafs were to win that lottery."
Its not far off of the record with and without Zaitsev this year. He must be doing something right.....