What is Jake Gardiner??

[IPS]

One reason why I'd be ok with re-signing him would be that he's the type of D-men who will age very gracefully and possibly even get better in his mid-30's. It honestly wouldn't shock me at all if he becomes a legit #1 sometime during his 30's.

 

[stickty111]

There is no question Rielly is our best d man and was our best d man in the playoff series against Washington. This makes sense as we gave them a tough battle. If Gardiner was our best d man in the series, we might have gotten swept. Since it was Rielly, we had a close series. Plus If Gardiner truly is this awesome #1 d man, then he should have been able to play with Zaitsev, but couldnt so he is our 2nd best d man.
Rielly is better then Jake and its good people are accepting that. Rielly being our #1 d man is also better for the team.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Jake Gardiner is the most dynamic defenceman in the NHL. Don't believe me? Sleep through a TAMPA game, and watch Hedman. How that goof is voted ahead of Jake is beyond me.

Jake Gardiner shows up when it counts, till then he works on his game as he waits for BAbcocks lines and d matchups to approximated Jakes greatness

Sign Tavares? No get this great under contract. Name one Leaf or 30 team other that can do what this guy can do please? In under 60 minutes.

Guy is unique and our team rolls off his energy, if lou f***s with this guy we are done.

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

Jake Gardiner is the most dynamic defenceman in the NHL. Don't believe me? Sleep through a TAMPA game, and watch Hedman. How that goof is voted ahead of Jake is beyond me.

Jake Gardiner shows up when it counts, till then he works on his game as he waits for BAbcocks lines and d matchups to approximated Jakes greatness

Sign Tavares? No get this great under contract. Name one Leaf or 30 team other that can do what this guy can do please? In under 60 minutes.

Guy is unique and our team rolls off his energy, if lou ****s with this guy we are done.

Is this satire of Leafs fans on Facebook, or did you honestly just say that Jake Gardiner is better than Hedman?

 

[Duke Silver]

I think he's dumb too often and smart too seldom.

If he could balance those things out he'd be a great defenceman.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

There is no question Rielly is our best d man and was our best d man in the playoff series against Washington. This makes sense as we gave them a tough battle. If Gardiner was our best d man in the series, we might have gotten swept. Since it was Rielly, we had a close series. Plus If Gardiner truly is this awesome #1 d man, then he should have been able to play with Zaitsev, but couldnt so he is our 2nd best d man.

You do realize you're wrong about the facts of the playoff series right?

- Gardiner/Zaitsev was the top-pair in the last 15-20 games of the season and in the playoffs (Faced the top comp).
- He did carry Zaitsev, they did extremely well and were the best pairing in the series easily.

Rielly is 100% better than Gardiner this season, but the end of last year + playoffs it was Gardiner 100%.

Right now, I have our D as:
Rielly (low/mid-tier #1D, stabilized):
Gardiner(mid-tier #2D, continues to rise)
Hainsey (High-tier #3D, has fell of a bit)
Dermott(Low-tier #3D, continues to rise)
Zaitsev (Confused)
Carrick (High-tier #5D)

 

[MapleLeafistan]

Inconsistent...I'd keep Gards, but wouldn't be surprised if we lost a playoff series because of his boneheaded move in a game 7.

I just feel it coming.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Inconsistent...I'd keep Gards, but wouldn't be surprised if we lost a playoff series because of his boneheaded move in a game 7.

I just feel it coming.

It would even everything out then since we'd make it to game 7 because of him

 

[Morbo]

Top pairing talent with bottom pairing brain = middle pair offensive minded dman

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Gardiner is way better than Hedman. Lets watch the playoffs to find out. Tampa is going out round one.

 

[Slyfox]

Gardiner is way better than Hedman. Lets watch the playoffs to find out. Tampa is going out round one.

Well he outplayed Carlson and Shattenkirk and Rielly and Orlov last year. I can see it happening.

 

[Nithoniniel]

If Gardiner was our best d man in the series, we might have gotten swept.

I don't know why you keep going with this argument. It's a very, very weak one. The name on the back doesn't matter in this instance, the performance does.

And Gardiner was our best d-man against Caps. He had a dominant series.

 

[Slyfox]

Gardiner was the best defenceman for either team in the Boston and Washington series

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

I see Gardiner as a solid driver of offense and zone-exits. Honestly, a little bit like a center who happens to play D. You don't see him skate backwards to face an opponent on the rush often, he prefers using his stick over his body, not all that great at clearing pucks in front of the net but solid at skating the puck out the zone once its on his stick. I don't think his defensive attributes in isolation are top-2 worthy.

All things considered, I voted #3.

 

[The Caveman]

Trade bait

 

[stickty111]

Gardiner is way better than Hedman. Lets watch the playoffs to find out. Tampa is going out round one.

Rielly outplayed Jake, Shatty, Orlov and Carlson.

 

[Hogan86]

He's got offensive abilities and the skating to be a top Dman. But his hockey sense only seemed to be kicked in 60% of the time. And the other 40% is almost painful to watch. Bad turnovers, poor defensive zone decisions, high risk, low percentage plays. He does those with way too much frequency. His proper spot is as a number 3 dman, anchoring the second pairing so that he can be sheltered and his mistakes aren't always fatal. Also gives him less ice time to create those poor plays. Good player, just loses his head to much.

 

[hullsy47]

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

low hockey IQ soft on his man ,,,he ll never be than a second pairing on a cup winning team
I mean people point to Pittsburgh and compare defence ...but Pittsburgh has the best player in hockey ,a proven champion ,and malkin ,Mathews is way ahead of marner and nylander ,and those 2 are no where near malkin .
john tavaras would be our best or second best player ,
or if we landed karlson ,hed likely be our best player ....reality sucks

 

[shortfuze]

I’m a big Jake gardiner hater. But that doesn’t mean I think he can’t be a great defenceman from time to time. I think he’s a solid number 3 defenceman. He has great offensive instincts. Skates very good. Great passer. I just don’t see the defensive game that it takes to be a number 1/2 defenceman. He’s way to inconsistent. He’s a bit of a cement head with the puck in his own zone.

 

[shortfuze]

Inconsistent...I'd keep Gards, but wouldn't be surprised if we lost a playoff series because of his boneheaded move in a game 7.

I just feel it coming.

I’m pretty sure when we lost to Boston in game 7 in 2010 gardiner took the rebound and instead of shooting it off the boards he tossed it right to the bruins player who scored. Could be wrong though.

 

[Gallagbi]

I’m pretty sure when we lost to Boston in game 7 in 2010 gardiner took the rebound and instead of shooting it off the boards he tossed it right to the bruins player who scored. Could be wrong though.

He touched it last, but I wouldn't say he cost us the game or that it was a bonehead play. He cleared a puck from our crease, but it went right to Bergeron.

 

[shortfuze]

He touched it last, but I wouldn't say he cost us the game or that it was a bonehead play. He cleared a puck from our crease, but it went right to Bergeron.

As much as I don’t like him I wouldn’t say he cost us the game. The whole team lost the game so I won’t put that on him. He made a bonehead move. Should have just dumped it off the boards. But it’s a fast game and you need quick instincts. He was also pretty young and still learning. It happens. If he can clear that stuff up he should be a great defenceman moving forward.

 

[Gallagbi]

As much as I don’t like him I wouldn’t say he cost us the game. The whole team lost the game so I won’t put that on him. He made a bonehead move. Should have just dumped it off the boards. But it’s a fast game and you need quick instincts. He was also pretty young and still learning. It happens. If he can clear that stuff up he should be a great defenceman moving forward.

Hard off the boards wasn't an option given his position, he was reaching around Franson for a puck. What he actually did was probably his attempt to get it off the boards. He could have pushed back to a sprawled out Reimer for a cover (dangerous in the situation) or pushed it behind the net where the Bruins likely regain possession (his best option).

 

[DarkKnight]

Gardiner was absolutely amazing in that series against Boston, perhaps the highlight of his career.

 

[Morgs]

I've always wondered what Gardiner could do with a decent defenseman beside him. We finally saw it with Carrick last year, and for some reason we didn't keep that pairing.