Gardiner(70%) or Rosen(100%)

[A1LeafNation]

Gardiner or Rosen as third pairing LD for 15 min?

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[deletethis]

70% Gardiner for now. It's a thought though. Gardiner doesn't seem really comfortable out there. I would not be surprised to see Rosen in his place without any fanfare because Gardiner's back has worsened between games.

 

[ACC1224]

Gardiner is 70%?

 

[MyBudJT]

Haven't seen enough of Rosen to know...

I wouldn't be surprised if Gards gets back surgery this offseason though.

 

[Marshy]

Depends. Does it mean we only get 70% of Jake's mistakes too?

 

[qqaz]

Gardiner.

He's clearly not playing like himself at the moment. Probably because his back still isn't right, or maybe he's just scared of re-injuring it or scared to blow it against Boston again. But I still trust him as a player.

I feel bad for the guy, because this is his chance to cash in in the off season. Looking slow and hurt with potential surgery isn't going to get him more dollars.

 

[MapleLeafs77]

He is not ready at all. Feel bad for him. Looks like he is ghost of himself.

Next year:

Rielly Dermott
Muzzin Zaitsev
Rosen ******

 

[Nithoniniel]

Gardiner. Mostly because I expect him to look more and more like himself in the later rounds. By the time we win the cup, he might be back to his normal level.

 

[Buds17]

Gardiner. If Rosen were to be playing in Gardiner's place though, I'd expect something more along the lines of he and Dermott swapping minutes, so it could actually be closer to 13-14 than 15-16. Still, it might essentially be tougher to integrate into the lineup a defenceman with no playoff experience in comparison to a forward, as a third pairing d-man would play more than a fourth line forward.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Take the safe bet with the VET and limit his ice to 10 minutes a night. Dermott is not totally right either. Let him get back gradually. Guys like Gards not much good against teams like Boston anyways but against teams like Tampa/Pittsburgh/Carolina he would be a huge help.

 

[Loosie]

Gardiner right now. Haven't seen enough of Rosen at the NHL level to be comfortable with him if Jake is able to play.

 

[Bluelines]

70% Gardiner for now. It's a thought though. Gardiner doesn't seem really comfortable out there. I would not be surprised to see Rosen in his place without any fanfare because Gardiner's back has worsened between games.

Same thought's were going through my head, Jake is taking way too long to make a decision, he is allowing the Boston forechecker to close the gap and that puts him in a 50/50 battle, when he really has no reason to be in a 50/50 battle.

His indecision is a weakness in Toronto's game plan, the Bruins can (and probably will) exploit.

I like Rosen but at the same time something feels wrong about benching Gardiner to play Rosen. In the short time Rosen has been here, he has shown he can get the puck to the net and create goal mouth scrambles, which is a skill set the other D-man (save Rielly) don't have.

 

[Bluelines]

Gardiner. Mostly because I expect him to look more and more like himself in the later rounds. By the time we win the cup, he might be back to his normal level.

EUREKA!!!! I FOUND THE ONE REMAINING POSITIVE LEAF FAN!!!!!!

 

[Sweet Leaf]

If we were asking Jake to play big minutes in tough situations I would think this question has merit. For sure he doesn't look 100% to me.

Since we are sheltering him on our 3rd pairing there should be no concerns imo. He played 14 minutes yesterday and that included PP. Dermott played 11 minutes. I didn't see them take many defensive zone face offs either.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Gardiner or Rosen as third pairing LD for 15 min?

Gardiner all the way. Just because we can't afford him next season doesn't mean i will turn my back on him. He's played a uneventful game recently and thats great.

 

[authentic]

Someone posted here he hasn't been scored on yet this series.

 

[CanadasTeam]

EUREKA!!!! I FOUND THE ONE REMAINING POSITIVE LEAF FAN!!!!!!

Excuse me, check avatar.
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[Tak7]

Didn't like Jake's game last night.

The puck was a livewire grenade on his stick almost every single time, and him successfully getting it out of the zone seemed like a small victory every time.

I think you just hope that as he gets more time in, he gets more comfortable and starts moving his feet and his mind. I think you stick with him, and hope he figures it out, rather than going to Rosen.

 

[Tak7]

Someone posted here he hasn't been scored on yet this series.

He was bailed out on 2 different occasions in the 1st period last night, by FOUR big Andersen saves.

 

[Zybalto]

Gotta keep him in and hope he finds his legs.

Looks like he did at the start of the year and Im hoping its only rust.

 

[CanadasTeam]

"What are the defensive pairings once Gardiner returns?"

When I read this question while everyone anticipated Jake's return, my first thought was which existing D man we want to see ruin their game.

First it was Reilly, then Zaitsev, now it seems to me Dermott is somewhat playing unfavourable, Zaitsev actually now is playing half decent and knows how to play defense.

 

[Dreakmur]

Same thought's were going through my head, Jake is taking way too long to make a decision, he is allowing the Boston forechecker to close the gap and that puts him in a 50/50 battle, when he really has no reason to be in a 50/50 battle.

I've always noticed him doing that. I just assumed it was because he was scared to get hit, so he'd rather lose or tie the race for the puck.

 

[IPS]

Gardiner. Mostly because I expect him to look more and more like himself in the later rounds. By the time we win the cup, he might be back to his normal level.

Damn you're sounding confident nowadays

 

[Guy Boucher]

Gardiner only played 2 games before the playoffs, and the game against Montreal was more of a scrimmage. It's going to take him time to get up to speed.

 

[m1ker]

Are you guys forgetting he jumped straight into the playoffs since coming back? Ofc hes going to look a bit off