I was enjoying my offseason HF hockey break.
Gardiner has certainly lost his allure around here, eh? Yes it's true, he can't defend on the puck, and he can't defend away from the puck either. His decision making is poor, his reads are slow, and his play is inconsistent. However, I think Gardiner's offense is being a little undersold at the moment. And as someone who has been extremely hard on him since the beginning (remember the days of me vehemently defending Schenn over Gardiner?) I think Gardiner needs some props. He will never be a #1 D he was wrongly billed as, and he probably won't be an adequate first pairing D man. However, I can see him settling into a very capable #3, and that's not something we should be upset about or actively trying to trade.
I'll try not to bore you with stats. I'll only use the first 2 I find interesting. This specific sub forum seems to have a fear of analytics, fear the unknown! But I do think some are important for the topic. Strictly looking at
Extra Skater
1: Gardiner has the second highest Corsi forward on the team. Corsi for those of you that don't know is:
"Corsi: the most popular advanced stat in the hockey blogosphere, Corsi is a possession metric developed by former Buffalo Sabres goaltending coach Jim Corsi. At its most basic level, Corsi is the plus/minus amount of shots directed at a net while at even strength-blocked shots, shots high and wide, shots that hit, shots that get tipped, etc."
Match Stick and Gas
Even if we want to exclude puck possession from the topic,
Jake Gardiner is getting the second most pucks towards the net of any of our players. Infact, he's getting nearly 200 more instances of corsi than Phaneuf, the second highest defender. This is important because getting more pucks to the net means a higher chance to score.
2: Gardiner also took the second lowest penalties of any of our dmen (behind Rielly). Important stat because penalties kill any offensive pressure, in most cases rest our best player (Phil), and last year, generally resulted in a goal. I think penalties are also a sign of poor positioning, so it's good to see, in a sense, Gardiner is smart.
I for one thought Gardiner took some steps forward last season. He was more aggressive at times, and that was reflected in a huge increase in hits, and he shot the puck more. He played the most even strength minutes out of any of our defenders and was very promising at times.
Gardiner is a much more important player than some people realize. A strong 2nd pairing offensive defensemen are worth a lot when they're providing good secondary scoring. I voted 30-40 but I can see him the year after having a 41 or 42 point season. There's a big learning process with Jake, the way he defends and his rushes still show inexperience. I think he'll get much better, offensively, with age. And the idea that Gardiner can't exist here is ridiculous. Gardiner is one of the few players that can skate the puck out of trouble, Gardiner is one of the few players who can create a chance, and Gardiner is one of the few players good at puck possession.
