Jake Gardiner

[Tyler Biggs*]

I thought Gardiner was much improved against the Ducks. It's not easy to adjust to playing on your off side.

Carlyle is responsible for getting more physical and defensive play out of Franson. He's responsible for JVR's new aggressive play. He got Kessel to play defense. All of these players struggled a bit in the adjustment, but emerged as much better players. Everything's going to click for Gardiner eventually. It's already starting to happen. He's going to be a very dangerous player in the near future. Just imagine what Carlyle's coaching style is going to do for Reilly.

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[SteveV*]

Other than Phaneuf, on balance, Jake has been our best defender. Period. Least of our problems...

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

I'm huge fan of Gardiner's but he's been better than this

 

[Sonofamitch]

Trade him while his value is high. Acquire a right handed dman who can actually play D.

 

[leafstilldeath*]

Gards been our 2nd most effective D after Dion. It is a shame that Carlyle has sucked skill out of his game with the pig-headed D style asked of Jake. I wonder how Karlsson would do under Carlyle.

Anyone saying trade Gards is X infinity. Ds like Gards do not grow on trees and we are lucky to have Gards and Reilly on this team. I hope Nonis hangs on to both long term unless we have a Crosby, Stamkos, Getzlaf etc.. coming in return do not want to trade them.

 

[Mess]

Gardiner needs to learn to harness himself and learn to pick his spots when to attack and when to hold defensive positioning and awareness.

Every time he gets the puck the instinct is to lead the rush up ice, but depending on the score and the game time, it should be done only when its required. The throttle doesn't need to be down to the floor every shift.

As a result he gets into Carlyle's doghouse and he calls him out publicly as a result of giving up odd man rushes and scoring chances against by his aggressiveness and desire to push the puck forward.

No one questions his offensive skills but he needs to learn to play the position of defense better realizing that he has responsibilities at both ends of the rink to keep in mind.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

Trade him while his value is high. Acquire a right handed dman who can actually play D.

Gardiner is gonna be a gem in time...don't trade him! Float him up and down the d pairings to learn the def aspect of the game he's got the skills for offensive d but a good dman takes time to develop. Rielly is gonna go through this too but to have 2 quality yound dmen in the near future it's gonna be great.

 

[SteveV*]

Gardiner needs to learn to harness himself and learn to pick his spots when to attack and when to hold defensive positioning and awareness.

Every time he gets the puck the instinct is to lead the rush up ice, but depending on the score and the game time, it should be done only when its required. The throttle doesn't need to be down to the floor every shift.

As a result he gets into Carlyle's doghouse and he calls him out publicly as a result of giving up odd man rushes and scoring chances against by his aggressiveness and desire to push the puck forward.

No one questions his offensive skills but he needs to learn to play the position of defense better realizing that he has responsibilities at both ends of the rink to keep in mind.

He's been fine defensively, sometime I wish we micro managed every D like Jake, because I see gaffes a plenty, bad pinches, from all of them. Gardiner was a bit off to start, but he's been quite steady since. His ice time should tell us all we need about the doghouse stuff too.

 

[Diatomic]

Trade him while his value is high. Acquire a right handed dman who can actually play D.

His values actually pretty low right now. He's not producing points and he's been struggling.

 

[Mess]

He's been fine defensively, sometime I wish we micro managed every D like Jake, because I see gaffes a plenty, bad pinches, from all of them. Gardiner was a bit off to start, but he's been quite steady since. His ice time should tell us all we need about the doghouse stuff too.

He got big minutes verses Anaheim, but in other games he has been held back, and even called out by Carlyle to find his game like he played in last year's playoffs, and it seems slow to be returning".

Consistent is not a word one would use to describe Gardiner's season to date, but rather inconsistent.

 

[leafstilldeath*]

Gardiner needs to learn to harness himself and learn to pick his spots when to attack and when to hold defensive positioning and awareness.

Every time he gets the puck the instinct is to lead the rush up ice, but depending on the score and the game time, it should be done only when its required. The throttle doesn't need to be down to the floor every shift.

As a result he gets into Carlyle's doghouse and he calls him out publicly as a result of giving up odd man rushes and scoring chances against by his aggressiveness and desire to push the puck forward.

No one questions his offensive skills but he needs to learn to play the position of defense better realizing that he has responsibilities at both ends of the rink to keep in mind.

There are other members of this team that are guilty of what you said but they do not get called out by the coaching staff publicly. Not a good confidence booster for young kid that has great skill and tremendous upside

 

[LeafOfBread]

He got big minutes verses Anaheim, but in other games he has been held back, and even called out by Carlyle to find his game like he played in last year's playoffs, and it seems slow to be returning".

Consistent is not a word one would use to describe Gardiner's season to date, but rather inconsistent.

Since the game against Nashville where he only played 17 minutes, he's been playing 20+ in all the following games.

 

[mikebel111*]

His values actually pretty low right now. He's not producing points and he's been struggling.

His last 5 games have been really good. Carlyle said he is playing better now

 

[SteveV*]

He got big minutes verses Anaheim, but in other games he has been held back, and even called out by Carlyle to find his game like he played in last year's playoffs, and it seems slow to be returning".

Consistent is not a word one would use to describe Gardiner's season to date, but rather inconsistent.

He played 20 last night as well, since the first couple games he's been fine and YES pretty consistent. Plus Ranger was a gas can!!

 

[Man in the Mirror]

No one questions his offensive skills but he needs to learn to play the position of defense better realizing that he has responsibilities at both ends of the rink to keep in mind.

I question his offensive skills

7 shots in 11 games is not good enough for a offensive dman

 

[Mess]

Since the game against Nashville where he only played 17 minutes, he's been playing 20+ in all the following games.

There are 60 minutes in a regulation game and 2 defenseman on the ice at a time = 120 minutes TOI/g for the defense.

Therefore 6 Dman at average minutes per game = 20 minutes each..

However your 1st pairing plays > 20 minutes and your 3rd pairing usually less than 20 therefore your middle pair (Gardiner and Franson) need to be able to play a reliable 20 minutes a game or others need to pick up their slack.

When Gardiner is getting less than 20 minutes he is forcing his teammates to increase their workload while he struggles, and any Dman playing in the top 4 needs to be able to handle 20 minutes reliably.

 

[SteveV*]

There are 60 minutes in a regulation game and 2 defenseman on the ice at a time = 120 minutes TOI/g for the defense.

Therefore 6 Dman at average minutes per game = 20 minutes each..

However your 1st pairing plays > 20 minutes and your 3rd pairing usually less than 20 therefore your middle pair (Gardiner and Franson) need to be able to play a reliable 20 minutes a game or others need to pick up their slack.

When Gardiner is getting less than 20 minutes he is forcing him teammates to increase their workload while he struggles.

He's not getting less than 20. Gunner only played 16 last night.

 

[JAMmer124]

I question his offensive skills

7 shots in 11 games is not good enough for a offensive dman

Gardiner isnt a shooter. His shot is simply not that great. Not terrible, but quite average. His strengths are using his speed to create space and making passes. He'd be, in theory, a great fit with Phaneuf on the PP.

Gardiner's been fine. Not quite to his playoff level, but he's far from a problem. One thing about him is that something will happen offensively when he's on the ice....it's just a matter of which team gets the chance.

 

[hullsy47]

There are 60 minutes in a regulation game and 2 defenseman on the ice at a time = 120 minutes TOI/g for the defense.

Therefore 6 Dman at average minutes per game = 20 minutes each..

However your 1st pairing plays > 20 minutes and your 3rd pairing usually less than 20 therefore your middle pair (Gardiner and Franson) need to be able to play a reliable 20 minutes a game or others need to pick up their slack.

When Gardiner is getting less than 20 minutes he is forcing him teammates to increase their workload while he struggles, and any Dman playing in the top 4 needs to be able to handle 20 minutes reliably.

truth is hes not a whole lot better most night than reilly ......u hope reilly in 4 years from now is dominant ,like gardiner is about half the time .....just when u think reilly is overwhelmed he comes up big again ,thats why u kep reilly and shop jake

 

[Mess]

He's not getting less than 20. Gunner only played 16 last night.

Leafs are really struggling to generate shots on net and creating scoring chances often being doubled nearly in the shot for and against ratios by opponents.

Gardiner is one if not the best Leafs puck rushers and as such Carlyle is using him more now to try and generate more team offense. His ice time might be more reflective of Leafs situation then his own play as a result of the coach believing his play has been stellar.

That said he has certainly been better recently then at the beginning of the season, particularly when it comes to give-aways.

 

[7even]

This is the best defensively I've seen from him.

 

[Mess]

truth is hes not a whole lot better most night than reilly ......u hope reilly in 4 years from now is dominant ,like gardiner is about half the time .....just when u think reilly is overwhelmed he comes up big again ,thats why u kep reilly and shop jake

I agree and have thought similarly that Rielly at 19 seems more composed and better positionally than Gardiner at age 23 in games.

Rielly is just as capable at spearheading the rush as Gardiner is but he has been making better decisions when to join and when to sit back.. Gardiner seems to get into his own head wanting to rush regularly but then when the coach tells him to pick his spots he becomes hesitant to find timing and balance and struggles with self confidence..

The 4 years extra hockey and life experiences Gardiner has certainly doesn't seem to reflect the gap in their ages and current play accurately. IMO

Truth be told Gardiner might have been better a couple years back in his rookie season when he made the NHL All-Rookie team then he is playing today at various times.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

He's got a great hockey IQ, skates like the wind and fits in nicely in the dressing room, Jake will have a great career with all of his upside, learning how to play both sides is just going to make him that more deadly on the ice.

 

[Larry Hoover]

His game against the Ducks was by far his best of the season. He was playing a lot like he did in the playoffs. The kid has all the tools, sometimes he takes too much risks but sometimes they pay. It seems like he's not motivated every game but when it matters he steps up.

 

[NarcoPolo]

It seems to me that he's at his best when he plays the game like its a shinny or something. He's not as effective when he's staying back being conservative