Sportsnet: Jake Gardiner Talk

Cor

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Jun 24, 2012
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Friedman on his 31 thoughts podcast says that a few weeks ago, it was assumed that Gardiner and Toronto were for sure parting ways because of a lack of cap space. However, with the Zaitsev and Marleau stuff coming to light, depending on what happens with them, and say someone like Brown, the Leafs could have a good amount of cap space.

He says Toronto wants to keep him, if possible, and Gardiner wants to stay, but it comes down to when/if Marleau, Zaitsev and the like get moved.

Says Montreal and Chicago are the two likely teams to have strong interest in him.
 

ShaneFalco

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Jul 15, 2012
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London, On
Friedman on his 31 thoughts podcast says that a few weeks ago, it was assumed that Gardiner and Toronto were for sure parting ways because of a lack of cap space. However, with the Zaitsev and Marleau stuff coming to light, depending on what happens with them, and say someone like Brown, the Leafs could have a good amount of cap space.

He says Toronto wants to keep him, if possible, and Gardiner wants to stay, but it comes down to when/if Marleau, Zaitsev and the like get moved.

Says Montreal and Chicago are the two likely teams to have strong interest in him.

I'm torn. He gets wayyyy too much flak here but he's also 28 and will be looking for a long-term deal. I guess it depends on what's out there too.
 

Nooodles

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May 7, 2010
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So people would be fine with this and at the same time they would run out of town a 10M Mitch Marner.

mmmmkay
 

Buds17

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Nov 29, 2015
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Assuming Muzzin could also be re-signed, there's potentially a situation where the top four would all be LHD, for whatever that might be worth. Dubas and Babcock seem to regard him well. Gardiner seems to regard being a Maple Leaf in the same manner. A return sounds improbable, yet this offseason looks to be taking some interesting turns for the team as it is.
 

Dreakmur

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Mar 25, 2008
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I'd love him back. He's exactly what we'll be looking for if we lose him.

This part of the conversation between Mirtle & Draglikepull made some sense to me.



If he would sign for 4 million, I would love to have him back. He was a good second pairing defenseman.

I don’t know if I could justify playing more than that for a guy who I wouldn’t trust on the ice in big moments.
 

18leafsfan18

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Jul 28, 2012
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Gardiner is a skilled player.

Hockey sense just isn't there which is what leads to the mistakes.

Leafs already have a ton of offensive weapons, need some D who focus more on D.

He will be offered way more then I would like to see the Leafs pay for him.
 

ShaneFalco

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Jul 15, 2012
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If he would sign for 4 million, I would love to have him back. He was a good second pairing defenseman.

I don’t know if I could justify playing more than that for a guy who I wouldn’t trust on the ice in big moments.

Babcock would though, so another reason to pass
 

Kamiccolo

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Can't believe people never learned watching our defense without him. Here's the thing, letting him walk means Dubas has to somehow add another top 4 D to the roster. This costs assets. Signign Gards means even if we put him on the bottom pair, the LD is still a strength. It means going into next season, the defense is something like.

Rielly - XXX
Muzzin - Dermott
Gardiner - XXX
Rosen

Depending on if they wanted to get creative like how they did before, it could even look like last year a bit.

Muzzin - Rielly
Gardiner - Dermott
Rosen - XXX

Maybe they can snipe a guy like Miller out of Vegas for that spot. Maybe they can sign a big name RD and shift everyone down.

Muzzin - Big Name RD
Rielly - Dermott
Gardiner - Rosen/XXX
XXX/Rosen

Point is, Gardiner is a top 4 D good for 40-50 points. He adds a ton of flexibility to the defense and makes us a better team. If you can overpay in term, you do it.

Some of you may not want to hear this, but in 5 years Nylander, Matthews, JT, and maybe Marner are UFA's. Our window is 5 years. Improve the team in the short term is now the goal. Gardiner does that.
 
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nuck

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Aug 18, 2005
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Let's see. An aging 29 year old mistake prone non-physical defenseman with a bad back. Gonna want big bucks with term.

Just no Dubas.

When their two best vets are also LD and so are Dermott, Rosen and Sandin why would that even be considered? Just a dumb use of assets and cap space. Do we have to pray for another clubs spending to protect the team from doing something stupid? Wow.
 

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