Just how good is Jake Gardiner?

[mccabe2424]

jake and cody made a good tandem after fraser got hurt hes a 3 with the potential to be a top pairing guy

 

[morrielly]

before his concussion, Gardiner was dynamite in the AHL. I remember a couple of days before his concussion, Don Cherry said he was the best defensemen(or player, cant remember) he's ever seen in the AHL(remember, gardiner is american so you know he wasn't lying)

the thing that excites me is that when he's on, he often ends up with the highest TOI on our team. his skating is one of the best in the league, his shot is reallly good imo (didn't see too much of it this season however), his iq is good and his physical play and defensive game is reeaaaallly underrated i think. He is our most exciting player behind kessel and kadri imo.

 

[therealkoho]

I've been watching the Leafs since the early 60's and I've seen a lot of great players and a lot not so great, I've seen Orr from his early days as a General to his days as a the best player in hockey, period! I've seen Potvin from a Jr on up as well as Neidermeyer Coffey etal

I don't believe Gardiner will ever truly compare with those guys, but at the risk of being optimistic I think we've only started to see what this young man can and will accomplish. IMHO he skates as well as any Dman in the league and if his defensive work improves he may end up being among the elite of the present day NHL

yeah yeah I know the argument that he's already 23 and all these 19 year olds are ahead of him, and I suppose that's true. One thing you have to consider is that while Gardiner was playing 48 HS games over 2 years these kids were playing 70+ games in either Midget AAA or JR grade hockey per year quite a difference in overall skills development and it's no wonder they're ahead.

He is now catching up on that difference in playing time and also catching up to who's who in the NHL which will enable him to write his book on how to play certain teams and players and in turn help his defensive work.

From what I've seen so far this guy is the real deal

 

[xxreact9]

This. Gardiner was arguably controlling the game in games 5 and 6, it was truly incredible. Was also solid in game 7 until the last 10 minutes and OT like everyone else.

I think we got a stud. Francois who?

Francois who? Really?

His name is francois "came-in-4th-for-norris-trophy-voting", ahead of chara, keith, weber, doughty, OEL, pietrangelo,...

I don't believe gardiner will EVER have a season that good, but I'm in agreement that he showed flashes of brilliance in the playoffs, literally controlling the games you mentioned. He has a chance to be a star, but you can't possibly be so arrogant as to say he'll ever be that close to a norris.

That being said, the trade worked well for both sides but toronto is the obvious winner. Lupul wasn't fitting, anaheim had/has a lot of top tier young D (fowler, lindholm, vatanen, sbisa, and schultz at the time), and beauchemin wasn't panning out in toronto.

 

[Egoclapper]

I've been watching the Leafs since the early 60's and I've seen a lot of great players and a lot not so great, I've seen Orr from his early days as a General to his days as a the best player in hockey, period! I've seen Potvin from a Jr on up as well as Neidermeyer Coffey etal

I don't believe Gardiner will ever truly compare with those guys, but at the risk of being optimistic I think we've only started to see what this young man can and will accomplish. IMHO he skates as well as any Dman in the league and if his defensive work improves he may end up being among the elite of the present day NHL

yeah yeah I know the argument that he's already 23 and all these 19 year olds are ahead of him, and I suppose that's true. One thing you have to consider is that while Gardiner was playing 48 HS games over 2 years these kids were playing 70+ games in either Midget AAA or JR grade hockey per year quite a difference in overall skills development and it's no wonder they're ahead.

He is now catching up on that difference in playing time and also catching up to who's who in the NHL which will enable him to write his book on how to play certain teams and players and in turn help his defensive work.

From what I've seen so far this guy is the real deal

I believe he only recently made the switch to the backend.

He's going to be our next Kaberle type. Calm under pressure and a great skater. A lot of D make the blind pass up the boards or through middle when they're under pressure, don't have to worry about that with Gardiner he'll skate it out and find the open man.

It'd be nice to lock him up on a 2-3 year deal before he has his breakout season this year. I'm seeing 50 points this season.

 

[TheProspector]

The only reason and time Gards struggled was post-concussion. After he regained his footing, he was dynamite.

He's going to be a top-10 d-man in the league at least a few years before he hangs them up.

 

[BertCorbeau]

He doesn't just skate the puck up the ice while making a good first pass .. He controls the pace of the play, that was quite impressive during the playoffs against Boston

As he matures he'll get even better at that, his skating abilities are unreal .. Once he fills out a bit more and gets stronger, that should make him tougher defensively and give him a better shot from the point .. Additionally he'll learn to play better positionally in his zone which is ideal

Dan Boyle is a great comparison .. Hoping he becomes a 45-60 point, two way d-man ... If Granberg can develop into a top 4 physical defensive d-man within the next few seasons, assuming we resign Phaneuf, the Leafs could have a deadly combination of puck movement, speed, and physicality in their top 4

Rielly - Phaneuf
Gardiner - Granberg

 

[IWD]

Bit extreme. A PMD prime is what, ages 23-26? So you think in the next 3-4 years he wins a Norris and is known as a top 3 D in the league?

I think a Dan Boyle career is more likely.

I'd be very, very happy if he turned out as good as Dan Boyle, but different players.

 

[officialmark7*]

Obviously Phaneuf had harder matchups, but I thought Gards did a better job defensively against his opponents in the playoffs. The way he used his skating and strength to out muscle the forwards, and strip them of the puck while breaking it out quickly was magical.

 

[SteveV*]

The fact Gardiner was our best D, in the playoffs, against the most physical team in the league, one that forechecks so hard, is like a dream come true. STUD.

 

[613Leafer]

The fact Gardiner was our best D, in the playoffs, against the most physical team in the league, one that forechecks so hard, is like a dream come true. STUD.

It's definitely a good sign.

But plenty of players have had GREAT playoff series before, but pretty lacklustre careers in general. I'm more sold on Gardiner than I am Franson, since he's younger and has shown a more consistent ability to play top 4 minutes in the regular season during his rookie year, whereas Franson has only played top 4 minutes for a couple of weeks.

Recent examples of guys who had good playoff runs/series but aren't great players:

-Leino had 21 points in 19 playoff games in 2009-2010.. he obviously doesn't regularly play at that level.
-Bickell just had 17 points in 23 games.. I doubt he sustains that type of play over any season, let alone his career in general.
-Marc-Andre Gragnani had 7 points in 7 playoff games while playing 22 minutes a night as a rookie..and has since failed to really do anything at the NHL level.
- etc

 

[Mikeyg]

hes good.

 

[SteveV*]

It's definitely a good sign.

But plenty of players have had GREAT playoff series before, but pretty lacklustre careers in general. I'm more sold on Gardiner than I am Franson, since he's younger and has shown a more consistent ability to play top 4 minutes in the regular season during his rookie year, whereas Franson has only played top 4 minutes for a couple of weeks.

Recent examples of guys who had good playoff runs/series but aren't great players:

-Leino had 21 points in 19 playoff games in 2009-2010.. he obviously doesn't regularly play at that level.
-Bickell just had 17 points in 23 games.. I doubt he sustains that type of play over any season, let alone his career in general.
-Marc-Andre Gragnani had 7 points in 7 playoff games while playing 22 minutes a night as a rookie..and has since failed to really do anything at the NHL level.
- etc

His playoffs only confirmed the "signs" we'd seen earlier, so I'm not basing my opinion on that stretch, only acknowledging he played better on a bigger stage, against tougher competition. The big IF about Gardiner is his defensive play, fact he looked good against a team that theoretically offered a great physical challenge, is fantastic.

 

[Mikeyg]

The only reason and time Gards struggled was post-concussion. After he regained his footing, he was dynamite.

He's going to be a top-10 d-man in the league at least a few years before he hangs them up.

lol forget hanging them up..... hes barley tried them on yet, hes got more then a decade to go lol

 

[613Leafer]

His playoffs only confirmed the "signs" we'd seen earlier, so I'm not basing my opinion on that stretch, only acknowledging he played better on a bigger stage, against tougher competition. The big IF about Gardiner is his defensive play, fact he looked great against a team that theoretically offered a great physical challenge, is fantastic.

That's what I meant when I said I was more sold on him than I am with Franson.

Gardiner, I feel like we can pretty comfortably project as a #2-3 guy, with an outside shot at even pushing to being a #1. I wouldn't say the same for Franson.

 

[SteveV*]

That's what I meant when I said I was more sold on him than I am with Franson.

Gardiner, I feel like we can pretty comfortably project as a #2-3 guy, with an outside shot at even pushing to being a #1. I wouldn't say the same for Franson.

Gardiner has a billion times more upside that Franson. He's a marginal 4, the hype he's getting now is a bit much.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Potential Norris candidate in the future.

 

[GrindNMuck]

He will be a top 2 defensemn for the MapleLeafs. He's still very young, with great talent and very high potential to become a top defensemen

 

[Beleafer4]

Gardiner Imo will be a number 2 defender (top 20-30 defender) and reminds me of Campbell. I thinks he lacks the physicality or pure offense (70+ points) to be an undisputed #1 though.

I think Gardiner's defense is underrated but I think we have seen his offensive upside this playoffs. I think when gardiner is done developping, he will be considered a two way defenseman who will be solid in his own end too (and play pk).

 

[Orbital]

Will excel to be a top 10 d-man in the NHL if lug-head Carlyle figures how to use his insane skill properly.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Francois who? Really?

His name is francois "came-in-4th-for-norris-trophy-voting", ahead of chara, keith, weber, doughty, OEL, pietrangelo,...

I don't believe gardiner will EVER have a season that good, but I'm in agreement that he showed flashes of brilliance in the playoffs, literally controlling the games you mentioned. He has a chance to be a star, but you can't possibly be so arrogant as to say he'll ever be that close to a norris.

That being said, the trade worked well for both sides but toronto is the obvious winner. Lupul wasn't fitting, anaheim had/has a lot of top tier young D (fowler, lindholm, vatanen, sbisa, and schultz at the time), and beauchemin wasn't panning out in toronto.

Beauchemin was GARBAGE here in Toronto, and we turned him into Lupul and Gardiner, that's all that matters.

 

[mydnyte]

He's the best d-man i've seen on the Leafs since Salming (i am excluding Leetch) ...he is i would think already better than say Kenny Jonnson was.

 

[AuraSphere]

He's going to be our top line guy some day. I'd much much rather see Gardiner get better and better than everyone just hyping Rielly. Both will be great players, it's going to be awesome.

 

[Future]

Well reading this thread you'd think he was something special. Which I personally don't see. I think he is a solid young D man, but there are just SO many good young D men out there. It'd be a beautiful surprise if he was ever top 10 in Norris voting.

I personally don't view him in a very high regard. I think he's good, and I'm glad we have him. But he is a #2 at best IMO. Good skater, however offensively I don't see him with a good enough shot of a good enough passer to ever put up 50 points. Defensively, I don't even know where to begin. Poor man on man coverage, often loses his man in coverage, poor defensive positioning, and an overall below average hockey IQ defensively. I think he's comparable to Kevin Shattenkirk, maybe not as good, though. Should be mid 40 point defender most seasons, which is great. I've compared him to Shattenkirk for a while now, both should play on the 2nd pairing and are really good skaters. I think Shattenkirk has a much better shot though.

I also think he is insanely overhyped. People constantly talk about the small sample size that was the playoffs as some sort of coming out party. I also don't think he is the future of this defense, and to be honest I'd be surprised if he was still wearing a Maple Leaf sweater in 5 years. The playoffs were nice, and he led our defensemen in zone entries though.

Overall my opinions on him are - Meh, good player, doesn't excite me nearly as much (or at all) as most of the posters here. I can name around 10-15 defenders around his age I'd rather take than him.

No offence but its a good thing your opinion doesn't mean jack in terms of how the leafs treat him going forward.

Kid's talent is off the charts. He was dominant in that Boston series, he was toying with them and was all over the ice at all times. He got a ton of praise on the main boards aswell.

 

[Auston Matthews]

Can anybody find me the video from the playoffs when the commentators were saying(paraphrasing here):

"Wheres Jake Gardiner? Jake Gardiner is everywhere!"

Haha I loved that, Jake was having an amazing game and he truly was everywhere.