Jake Gardiner

[SteveV*]

Surely not Gardiner, just based on general observation. If the stats say otherwise, it's not suprising since it's been pretty well established that the guy counting Leafs' turnovers for half the games is on crack.

Ya, that must it. Gardiner has 5 less than the next D. BTW, the same dude counts them for ALL the players.

 

[Mess]

had this discussion with a scout at a windsor spitfire game .......gardiner is more of a proto type US born hybrid defenseman that wasn't allowed all thru his minor hockey and development ages .....a player like reilly has been allowed to be creative and it shows .....soon you ll see more games where reilly outshines many others .be more frequent .

Gardiner was a forward actually through his minor hockey days, and was switched to defense in College. So he hasn't been playing the position all that long.

He tends to think like a forward when he rushes the puck on the attack.

He could be like the next Phil Housley capable of both positions as a result. Leafs should try him as a forward when Fraser returns and see what happens.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Gardiner was a forward actually through his minor hockey days, and was switched to defense in College. So he hasn't been playing the position all that long.

He tends to think like a forward when he rushes the puck on the attack.

He could be like the next Phil Housley capable of both positions as a result. Leafs should try him as a forward when Fraser returns and see what happens.

I always face-palm when people suggest such a position change, but I actually make an exception for Gardiner. The only defenceman-like thing he does very well is rush the puck out of the zone, but really, he could just come back for the puck as a forward and do it anyway.

 

[Mess]

I always face-palm when people suggest such a position change, but I actually make an exception for Gardiner. The only defenceman-like thing he does very well is rush the puck out of the zone, but really, he could just come back for the puck as a forward and do it anyway.

Former Leafs Gary Leeman and Wendel Clark made very successful switches to forward from Dmen. Leeman went on to score 50 goals as a forward and was the bait to land Gilmour.

If Gardiner was switched to forward and his stats exploding his value to the team and as trade bait asset would increase simultaneously.

It would be like the Leafs dressing 7 dmen each game as Gardiner could be used at both position to Leafs advantage .. ie. man the point on the PP or fill in for an injury during the game on defense etc. Versatility increases Leafs depth.

 

[thewave]

I always face-palm when people suggest such a position change, but I actually make an exception for Gardiner. The only defenceman-like thing he does very well is rush the puck out of the zone, but really, he could just come back for the puck as a forward and do it anyway.

I have a hunch Bowman would try him at forward. Clark did it, Federov could do both, who knows.

 

[Antropovsky]

I think gardiner as a forward would be less than equivalent to Mason Raymond. Gardiners weakest attributes are his shot and his inaccurate passes. His biggest attributes is his ability to skate the puck out of the defensive zone swiftly, and obviously his speed. His point totals suggest that he doesn't really have that hockey iq of being at the right place at the right time, nor does his play. If you were to put him at forward, you have a fast forward, with a weak shot (his own admitted biggest weakness) and average playmaking skills, and no signs of being a forward who'll pay the price going to the opposing teams net. Especially considering already on d, he has a tendency to always take the puck wide around the net, where he will either attempt to make a pass in front or merely just skate the puck back to the blueline.

He'll stay a defenseman because his biggest gift, is his ability to recover the puck from his defensive zone and swiftly skate it out of danger. Just like Kaberle. The only difference being, gardiner is faster, but Kaberle had the much better passing skills.

 

[Antropovsky]

I think he's overrated personally. Outside of his blazing speed/puck recovery skills, I just don't see much in terms of ability.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

If Gardiner does not bring the offence that we expect from him and is just playing better defence of late, I'd just rather have Percy in his place when he is ready. Percy is a cerebral high IQ D man that doesn't have to work on his defence. I think he is just the D man this teams need in the top 2 pairing. Low maintence guy that does the right things on D that a coach never has to worry about.

 

[frizzer1]

Defencemen take longer than forwards to develop their game.
Gardiner is one of the best if not the best skating defencemen in the game....give him time.

 

[Pi]

Gardiner has been our best defenseman beside Phaneuf to start this season.

When he is on the ice, our goalies have a save percentage of .965. He plays over 20 minutes of responsible defense. The points will come because we know how talented Gardiner is...he is gaining the trust of Carlyle by being sound defensively.

 

[Nasty Nazem]

A good reason why Gardiner is struggling to produce offensively is because he is starting in the offensive zone only 37.0% of the time -- the lowest out of Leafs Dmen. Bodie, McClement, Smith, Abbott and Clarkson are the only ones starting in the offensive zone lower than him. Keep in mind most of them haven't played as much as therefore, low sample size other than McClement who is only used for defensive purposes. It is pretty odd that Carlyle is using him like that instead of the other way around and trying to make use of his offensive skills but it shows that Carlyle is showing faith in Gardiner defensively.

Gardiner started in the offensive zone 48.4% of the time last year. It was 56% in 2011-2012 under Wilson. In the playoffs, it was 55.6% of the time.

People should be patient. Defensemen are a bit weird and take a long time to really find their game.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Gardiner has been our best defenseman beside Phaneuf to start this season.

When he is on the ice, our goalies have a save percentage of .965. He plays over 20 minutes of responsible defense. The points will come because we know how talented Gardiner is...he is gaining the trust of Carlyle by being sound defensively.

this, gardiner has been really good defensively this year... had some rough games but he adjusted well... main reason why he hasnt been producing as well

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Credit for Jake Gardiner on eliminating his giveaways.

But it is becoming very apparent Jake may not be as offensively gifted as some here believe.

He has no tangible results from his rushes, his playmaking, his immense skill.

The Hockey IQ at times is not there, how often does this guy hesitate to shoot the puck, how often have we seen him make a dangerous rush only to kill it by doing nothing.

4 points in 20 games despite PP time. Rielly in contrast far less mins, less games has 6 points in 15 games as a rookie.

Gardiner is not as untouchable as some want him to be. Stats like a defensive defenceman, but he he isn't one. Not sure where we go from here. Is there offence that is untapped or is this a player that will always look good, but results don't equal good looks.

 

[Gberg]

Credit for Jake Gardiner on eliminating his giveaways.

But it is becoming very apparent Jake may not be as offensively gifted as some here believe.

He has no tangible results from his rushes, his playmaking, his immense skill.

The Hockey IQ at times is not there, how often does this guy hesitate to shoot the puck, how often have we seen him make a dangerous rush only to kill it by doing nothing.

4 points in 20 games despite PP time. Rielly in contrast far less mins, less games has 6 points in 15 games as a rookie.

Gardiner is not as untouchable as some want him to be. Stats like a defensive defenceman, but he he isn't one. Not sure where we go from here. Is there offence that is untapped or is this a player that will always look good, but results don't equal good looks.

Did you watch the game last night? Maybe we saw things completely different. I saw A dman who dominated possession, was skating in the offensive zone really well and joined the rush with ease, very consistently. He generated offence, even got an assist.

Also, his PP time has been very limited, so I don't know how you can expect a barely 2nd PP minutes for most of the season to be mass producing points.

What's expected of him right now points-wise with limited ice time, 7 points in 20 games? So he's a little behind what we thought. But try waiting for a full season with a proper sample size before writing off a young defenceman with lots of potential.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Did you watch the game last night? Maybe we saw things completely different. I saw A dman who dominated possession, was skating in the offensive zone really well and joined the rush with ease, very consistently. He generated offence, even got an assist.

Also, his PP time has been very limited, so I don't know how you can expect a barely 2nd PP minutes for most of the season to be mass producing points.

What's expected of him right now points-wise with limited ice time, 7 points in 20 games? So he's a little behind what we thought. But try waiting for a full season with a proper sample size before writing off a young defenceman with lots of potential.

Gardiner is 23(not young by NHL standards these days) has played a total of 107 games in the NHL, that's under 200 more games till he qualifies for a NHL pension.

How much longer do you want to give him before we make a proper assessment? I think you just illustrated the fatal attraction to Gardiner here, I've seen this with other players we have jettisoned from our roster throughout the years.

 

[bobermay]

Gardiner is 23(not young by NHL standards these days) has played a total of 107 games in the NHL, that's under 200 more games till he qualifies for a NHL pension.

How much longer do you want to give him before we make a proper assessment? I think you just illustrated the fatal attraction to Gardiner here, I've seen this with other players we have jettisoned from our roster throughout the years.

Although I agree with you, I think we need to be patient. We all know what Gardiner CAN do, but he hasn't done it on a consistent basis. This is why Leafs fans are so adamant that the only way we'll trade him away is if we get a REALLY good return. It would suck to trade a young player with so much potential, and then he reaches that potential on another team...

 

[The Beyonder]

Gardiner is 23(not young by NHL standards these days) has played a total of 107 games in the NHL, that's under 200 more games till he qualifies for a NHL pension.

How much longer do you want to give him before we make a proper assessment? I think you just illustrated the fatal attraction to Gardiner here, I've seen this with other players we have jettisoned from our roster throughout the years.

23 is still pretty young in age for a defencemen. And keep in mind that he is also young in experience, having not played for 2 full seasons worth of games. 107 games is not a lot over the span of 3 years.

The Gardiner that's played the last 3 games is the Gardiner that we saw in the post-season, he's really stepped it up and played like at least our 2nd best d-man since then. We'll see if he can string some points together, and if he can keep up his play now that he's in a grove and has gain his confidence.

 

[Mapleleafs Fan*]

Gardiner is 23(not young by NHL standards these days) has played a total of 107 games in the NHL, that's under 200 more games till he qualifies for a NHL pension.

How much longer do you want to give him before we make a proper assessment? I think you just illustrated the fatal attraction to Gardiner here, I've seen this with other players we have jettisoned from our roster throughout the years.

I completely disagree with you on this. You seem a Gardiner hater. These 2 posts are not the only ones I saw you crap on Gardiner.

IMO Gardiner has been solid since he played against Boston. Playing against Boston seemed to have raised his moral. Gardiner and Ranger both are improving massively and don't let the Fra-Fra deceive you. Franson may have put on 2 assists but he was terrible defensively again.

Gardiner is going no where without the value coming back or before Franson or Fraser goes.

 

[7even]

I've never seen a player play so well with so little results. It's bizarre. Although recently, it looks like he skates himself out of chances and hold on to the puck for too long. He'll skate himself into a great place for a shot, hang on too long looking for the perfect pass, and end up just sending it back up to the point or something.

 

[Amadeus]

I've never seen a player play so well with so little results. It's bizarre. Although recently, it looks like he skates himself out of chances and hold on to the puck for too long. He'll skate himself into a great place for a shot, hang on too long looking for the perfect pass, and end up just sending it back up to the point or something.

I feel the same way but that's not to take away from how he's playing overall. I feel he's been excellent all around and should be a staple on D moving forward. We should finish putting him in any potential trade talks.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I completely disagree with you on this. You seem a Gardiner hater. These 2 posts are not the only ones I saw you crap on Gardiner.

IMO Gardiner has been solid since he played against Boston. Playing against Boston seemed to have raised his moral. Gardiner and Ranger both are improving massively and don't let the Fra-Fra deceive you. Franson may have put on 2 assists but he was terrible defensively again.

Gardiner is going no where without the value coming back or before Franson or Fraser goes.

A hater makes random critiques and does not back them up with anything of substance.

A non Hater is Being rationally critical and being able to back it up with tangible evidence.

 

[ULF_55]

Credit for Jake Gardiner on eliminating his giveaways.

But it is becoming very apparent Jake may not be as offensively gifted as some here believe.

He has no tangible results from his rushes, his playmaking, his immense skill.

The Hockey IQ at times is not there, how often does this guy hesitate to shoot the puck, how often have we seen him make a dangerous rush only to kill it by doing nothing.

4 points in 20 games despite PP time. Rielly in contrast far less mins, less games has 6 points in 15 games as a rookie.

Gardiner is not as untouchable as some want him to be. Stats like a defensive defenceman, but he he isn't one. Not sure where we go from here. Is there offence that is untapped or is this a player that will always look good, but results don't equal good looks.

He looks like he is looking for the perfect play when he rushes the puck.

If he has said his shot isn't good enough, that is probably the reason he isn't putting the puck on the net during these rushes.

You can develop a better shot, and coaching can get him to shoot more.

Perhaps he needs permission to shoot, the mental green light so to speak.

How old was Burns when they turned him?

 

[Pinto]

Gardiner has been our best defenseman beside Phaneuf to start this season.

When he is on the ice, our goalies have a save percentage of .965. He plays over 20 minutes of responsible defense. The points will come because we know how talented Gardiner is...he is gaining the trust of Carlyle by being sound defensively.

Fully agree, there is a notable improvement in his defensive play this year.

I'm not worried about his offensive production at all, it will come.

 

[Mapleleafs Fan*]

Something called poise is very difficult to build without being surrounded by vets or extremely good defenseman. Look at Jones playing in Nashville, it's because Weber is helping him out in the plays and is surrounded by Norris Trophy winner which helps raise your Moral.

Gardiner is playing with Franson who can not handle his own mistakes. We all saw what Gardier can do when he is playing with Phanuef last season. Gardiner is absolutely leafs until a good RHD coming back.

 

[thewave]

Fully agree, there is a notable improvement in his defensive play this year.

I'm not worried about his offensive production at all, it will come.

Honestly you should worry about any player that's performing well below expectations. He is a far cry from his perceived ceiling and if this continues his value will be reduced to rubbles.

I have to clarify.

His offensive ability is what makes him worth big bucks, if he just stays competent and loses that edge he is just another good D. Right now everyone thinks he is special.