Gardiner did kind of suck since returning to action, but I guess he could bounce back. If he doesn't, I'd easily take Barrie though. Even if he does, Barrie's ability to provide balance to Toronto's defense is pretty enticingThat’s fair, but the fact is that according to all of the numbers, Gardiner still was that good player for the ~60 games of the season that he played in. I’m also not convinced that Gardiner won’t return to form but we’ll see.
What? Hes making the fanbase mad based on greed, not production. Hes a great player but when you've only done it for a season and a half (elite play) of course people will downplay it when talking his worth on his next deal.I love how much Toronto fans have started downplaying Marner after pumping his tires endlessly since he was drafted.
I don't have the Jets in a playoff spot without him. They'll be hard pressed to make it even with him with that defense and that insane division.
The Leafs will be fine without Marner. Matthews-Nylander will be together from the start, and Tavares played with a lot worse line mates in New York than some combo of Kapanen/Johansson/Hyman.
As for Winnipeg, they made the playoffs without Laine showing up last year, so I doubt he makes much of a difference this year either. Although I have them missing the playoffs regardless. All they did this offseason was lose a #1 D-man and some depth for essentially nothing, and they're in a tough division. St. Louis shouldn't start nearly as poorly as last year. Colorado's defence is only gaining experience and getting better. Dallas improved their secondary scoring. Nashville ditched a huge liability and brought in a damn good top 6 C. Chicago looks poised to rebound with a full season of Colliton behind the bench and having patched some holes on the roster over the last 9 months.
I have watched plenty of Gardiner, and he has generally looked excellent.
I can understand the frustration with his performances in game 7s. But you are literally looking at a 3-game sample size and placing more emphasis on that than hundreds of games where the team was miles better with him on the ice.
And in this thread, we are talking about whether or not Toronto would make the playoffs in the first place. I think they still would, but it’s not the slam dunk that people are making it out to be, and I think the reason that they would make it would not be because they’ve improved their defense. They haven’t really done that at all.