hamzarocks
Registered User
Gardiner is a good player. He is great in the offensive zone, good at getting shots on net, can give players a chance to tip his shots, really good at passing cross ice, and in the neutral zone he has good reads and can break up breakouts. He also is a good puck transitioner both with his stretch passes and ability to carry the luck out of dangerous areas.Muzzin is an upgrade on Gardiner defensively. No question. He has helped stabilize Zaitsev.
Jake is really a third pairing guy at even strength.
His weaknesses are in front of the net, his bad reads on pinches, he is at best a decent cycle defender, and at times loses battles to players smaller than him. I think he is a great number 3 defender who deserves to be recognized as a great player. He never became a Scott niedermayer/duncan keith type player that some fans/media outlets were envisioning him of becoming. Still behind rielly and muzzin he gives us a strong defensive core.
He will be gone this summer and we can hopefully absorb the loss with dermott takong antoher step and sandin+lilijgren both looking really good in the AHL. Still Gardiner is a player that deserves a tribute when he comes back to play us next season and should be cheered in his first game back this year