Gardiner as a forward?

[Leaf Shaker]

My apologies if this has been posted already, but interesting none the less.

We've done it before.

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/...-been-talk-of-making-jake-gardiner-a-forward/

Click to read more...

 

[Duke Silver]

Mobility and puck-moving on our back end is a major issue for us and this suggestion makes us worse in that area.

We also have 700 forwards.

 

[mulefarm]

I'm sure they just signed him to a five year deal so they could convert him to a forward. Time to let this idea go.

 

[Teeder9]

His value is as a puck mover

 

[Nithoniniel]

It was never a good idea. Offensive skill doesn't mean you have more use of them as a forward. Gardiner gets the most out of his skills playing as a possession D. His value to the team relies on him tilting the ice, and he does that most effectively in the position he has now.

 

[Durrr]

Hey guys, I know there was only 2 bright spots on the entire defense core last year, so why don't we take one of them, and make him a forward!!

How about no.

 

[StuckOutHere]

Let's just sign Kaberle and move him to forward.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Let's play Clark as a forward

 

[King85Kong]

Is this real life.

Here is the first sentence from the article
"Jake Gardiner, a talented defenseman but polarizing at times for the Toronto Maple Leafs, sure endured his share of struggles last season."
Ya he is a good defenseman, but we need a 16th forward. And why do they use information from the start of last season. Poorly written article.

This has been discussed so many times There are already two other Gardiner threads.

 

[Drew311]

It's funny, I brought this up in his rookie season and everyone on here was going crazy calling me an idiot....and Gardiner was moved to forward the next game, I think he actually scored a goal IIRC.

In the end, Gardiner is too valuable of a player on defense. He has a skill set that 98% of the league's defensemen can't match. I think it will still take another couple of years, but I think he'll be an all-star d-man eventually.

 

[The Iceman]

Lets try Gary Leeman at forward....OOOPS, that worked

 

[geary17]

Gardiner gets this idea tossed around a lot because he played forward in high school. Between Jake and Morgan Rielly we obviously have the maximum amount of left-handed puck movers that we can play in our top-4 going forward. The question is can either of them play on a #1 shutdown pairing? Right now it would appear that Gardiner is the more likely to fill into that role (next to a legit #1 shutdown defenseman i.e. not Dion Phaneuf) but keeping in mind that many defensemen come into their prime later in their 20s than forwards, anything can happen.

With the way the game is progressing there is more focus on players that can keep up with the speed and stops and starts of the game. We are seeing defensemen who lack the speed or have lost a step quickly become irrelevant. Having young defensemen with well above average speed who show gifts in hockey sense like Rielly and Gardiner is something you'll want to hold on to going forward.

Just like Karlsson is better on D because he stands out more, the same can be said for our two young defensemen. Fast forwards who can score 20 goals are far more prevalent in the league than speedy puck moving defensemen.

 

[Leafidelity]

He has significantly more value as a defenseman.

 

[Hockey Talker29]

They just extended him for 5 years to be a key defenseman on this team. Can we stop with these nonsense forward conversion threads.

 

[SnazzyNazzy]

No, please stahp.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

I'll take dumb ideas I'm tired of hearing of over and over for $500 Alex

 

[Quares27]

It's not interesting at all... our weakness is D, and we have a bunch of bottom 6 forwards so lets move one of our best d men to forward? doesnt get much dumber than that

 

[Leafidelity]

Let's play Clark as a forward

Except that didn't happen in year 4 of his NHL career.

 

[Menzinger]

It's a terrible idea. He's a defenceman.

 

[AustonMitchWilly]

Not a terrible idea as he has played a lot of forward in his career. I think its worth a go but everyone is too silly to even let it become a possibility.

 

[garce]

Nonsense, Gardiner will sink or swim as a puck moving defenceman.

 

[KuleminFan41]

Except that didn't happen in year 4 of his NHL career.

Jake's going into his 4th. However I do think he needs to stay on the blue line

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I can see this coming down to how Jake plays defensively. His offence is not the question, he should improve his 31 points high this season, for Jake to take the next step, it will be to become a complete defenceman.

If he does, he will stay on defence, if he doesn't, I can see the Leafs experimenting with him at fwd. Jake will tell us where he will play with his own play.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Nonis said they are not going to put Jake at forward. ergo. no. no 100 times no.

 

[Epictetus]

Seems to be a universal no.

Locked.