What is Jake Gardiner??

[DatSnipeMatthews]

You guys are nuts. He is a bottom pair PP specialist D-man on a SUCCESSFUL team. Way too inconsistent be relied upon in your top 4 for more than spot duty. Unfortunately, we don't have the right manpower to slot him properly currently.

The Leafs are a successful team and he is currently on our second pairing but everyone knows he's our second best D-man.

 

[rent free]

he's 5th in points among defensemen since january 1st while playing mostly responsibly in his own end.when he's on he's fantastic

Not mostly responsible. His turnovers are really the reason he's he more of the opposite of that

 

[MattySnipes]

He is a lot better without the Zaitsev anchor. That guy better figure his crap out fast because he is just horrible bad. Not Polak bad, it's an exaggeration but he should be playing our 3rd pairing the way he is.

Yeah Zaits was solid last year, he is dealing with stuff this year. It's always hard for players coming into their second year, unfortunately for him he also had to deal with a broken foot. I am counting on him to be ready by playoffs because Babcock will be relying on him to play big minutes.

 

[DatSnipeMatthews]

Wow this thread really demonstrate how much differently posters think of Gardiner. We can generally come to a consensus on our players but Jake is the exception.

 

[TheProspector]

Gardiner is:

• 58th in the league in GS/60.
• 12th in the league in P1/60.
• 3rd in the league in P/60.

He's a 1st pair D. And a #1 D offensively, and a low end #2 if you consider him defensively.

 

[Hockey Talker29]

He's not quite a #1, due to his inconsistency at times.

But he's definitely a #2. Great at shot suppression. A very good passer and skater, so he has tremendous puck moving ability.

I'd love to see him paired with a #1, or even a #2 or #3. Having a more capable partner, especially one that makes up for his lack of physicality, would do wonders for him.

 

[Hockey Talker29]

Wow this thread really demonstrate how much differently posters think of Gardiner. We can generally come to a consensus on our players but Jake is the exception.

Most people have a really hard time assessing defensive ability. Mainly because "good" defense is a lot more influenced by what doesn't happen, which inherently makes it hard to see.

For example, some dmen are great at suppressing shot attempts and at denying zone entries. There are no common stats to illustrate this (only advanced stats) and most people won't pay attention to things like this. No one will ever quote that Jake (or any dman) broke up 6 zone entries in a game. It's remarkably difficult to see or track that without using advanced stats.

Jake doesn't fit the traditional mold of what makes a defenseman "good" defensively. What we're also learning though is that the traditional mold isn't really very good anymore (i.e. Roman Polak).

 

[ottomaddox]

He might be one of the softest players in the league.

I wish he could change that.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Some days a #1, some days a #5.

Solid top 4 guy on any team in the league though.

 

[hamzarocks]

Hes the leafs 2nd best defensemen and a number 2 dmen. Points, possession stats, usage all point at him being a great player who is trusted by his coach. He is able to have great games and has cut down on his brain farts. I would like to give jake the ziatsev contract but gardiner is ufa next offseason so he will command more. I would go as high as 6 years 6 million for him. Having our left side be so strong is a great asset, and with lilijgren and hopefully zaitsev bouncing back we will be able to have a defense on our right side. Gardiner and rielly will be playing 25+ minutes come playoffs and will be beasting like last year.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I still don't know

 

[Nithoniniel]

I don't like the definitions by number, as I don't think it captures how defensive groups operate. I like to judge defenders based on how well they can perform in what kind of context, and whether they are a driver, partner, or complementary piece. A driver is someone that can take a very large part of the work load in a pairing, and therefor drives results on his pairings. A partner is someone who can share equal work load on a pairing, while the complementary guys are players like Hainsey who do best when they adapt to their partner and just focus on being a support.

As such, Gardiner is definitely someone who can drive a pairing that stays away from the toughest matchups. An ideal second pairing guy.

 

[GoonieFace]

A human man

 

[Ziggdiezan]

When Jake was playing with Haisney against the toughest competition he sure looked like a top pairing guy.

Zaitsev and Gardiner need to be split up. They do not compliment each other at all

 

[Spirit of 67]

☑ Frustrating.

He's good. In fact, he's very good. But man he drives ya nuts sometimes.

I would not resign him unless it's a sweet contract. I would look around this summer and see what's out there and if I could use him to trade for a top 4 RHD without it costing too much, I'd do it.

 

[Leafsfan13]

When rielly got hurt and Gardiner played with Hainsey that was the best he looked all year. He was playing like a #1 defensemen I think all Gardiner needs is to play with a stay-at-home defensemen I don’t like zaitsev on his right side nothing against zaitsev I just don’t think they are good together Gardiner plays way better with Hainsey and even had more chemistry with carrick IMO.

 

[Muston Atthews]

A human man

Did you just... assume his gender?

 

[Stephen]

Kind of an odd hybrid of Bret Hedican/Mike Green in a sense right? Elite skating defenseman, elite offensive tools but historically not that productive relative to his tools.

 

[Goonface2k14]

If given room, when he has the puck he is great at starting rushes and can make pretty good stretch passes, and can also carry the puck deep into the o-zone if need be.

However, he is absolutely terrible when under pressure in the defensive zone, which is clearly not a good trait if you're an NHL defenseman. Way too many giveaways and missed assignments. This unfortunately negates his positive traits and often makes him an overall liability, IMO.

The Leafs are going to rely on him to continue to play big minutes, which could spell disaster come playoff time. If you are prone to continual defensive zone blunders when pressured, I don't care how good you are at skating and passing, you are a huge risk to your team, especially when playing such big minutes against quality teams.

 

[ErnieLeafs]

The answer to the thread title is: Pizza Delivery guy

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Did you just... assume his gender?

Lifetime ban incoming for that guy...

 

[moon111]

He's the Bozak of blueliners.

 

[Martin Skoula]

If given room, when he has the puck he is great at starting rushes and can make pretty good stretch passes, and can also carry the puck deep into the o-zone if need be.

However, he is absolutely terrible when under pressure in the defensive zone, which is clearly not a good trait if you're an NHL defenseman. Way too many giveaways and missed assignments. This unfortunately negates his positive traits and often makes him an overall liability, IMO.

The Leafs are going to rely on him to continue to play big minutes, which could spell disaster come playoff time. If you are prone to continual defensive zone blunders when pressured, I don't care how good you are at skating and passing, you are a huge risk to your team, especially when playing such big minutes against quality teams.

I don't completely agree here, it depends how long he's been holding onto the puck. If he's had time to think a play through before the pressure comes, he's going to give the puck away. If he just got the puck and there's already a forechecker on him, it's some ridiculous spin move and he's already gained the zone effortlessly.

I think that's why he steps it up in the playoffs, the pace is higher and there's no time to think.

Great instincts, terrible planning.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

He's the Bozak of blueliners.

pretty bad comp. he's much better than Bozak

 

[thewave]

I love the analysis here even by "esteemed" posters here. So wrong, so obvious.

He is a #2 with ease. He is routinely in the top 30/point getter for D, 60 for absolute certain, positive +/- annnd here is the kicker... He has great advanced stats as well.

The only debate you can have based on the evidence even is if he is a #1, #2 is case closed. The people saying 3/4/5/6... Yikes, name some top 10 perennial point getting #3s

Madness