3D and he'll never be anything more than that.
For as much as his skating gets him out of his own jams, his lack of hockey sense gets him into just as many or more.
Stats do not supersede 5 years of eye tests.You'd think that would show up in 5+ years worth of stats, like the other team getting more goals or shots against him than our other defensemen.
On average Gardiner drives play in the right direction regardless of how glaring his mistakes are. I'd rather he gives the puck away in a bad spot once a game than a traditional defensive defenseman failing to clear the zone several times a shift.
Stats do not supersede 5 years of eye tests.
#2 is probably just a little too generous, so went with #3.
Just outside of the top 30 defensemen in terms of GAR this year, 1.1 ES points P/60 in the last two seasons, mainly good possession numbers relative to his teammates over the years (this year being the exception)... I see a very good defenseman there. Actually, the #2 vote would probably have been right too.
As an aside, Gardiner is an excellent litmus test for player evaluation.
He wouldn't be, because if all he ever tried to do was to score own goals when he had the puck, he would end up being a negative contributor for his team, and it would be the other skaters on the ice who caused that positive goal differential. Try an example which is within the slightest realms of reality.I feel like a reductio ad absurdum is needed with the Gardiner question to get the point across to some people.
If there was a defenseman who actively shot the puck at his own goalie every time he was on the ice in the defensive zone, but despite this had 100 GF and 0 GA while he's on the ice over a statistically significant sample size, would you consider him a good defensive player despite how egregiously he violates your eye test?
how many teams in the league have a #3 defenseman better than Gardiner?No team with him higher than #4 on the depth chart will be winning anything.
Yes overrated because if the Leafs had a defense corps, they'd be a good team. So, Leafs fans overrate him (along with Reilly) to try and convince themselves that their team is good. They've had 51 years of practice.
Preds, Caps, Canes, Ducks, Jackets, Wild, Lightning, Flames, Jets.how many teams in the league have a #3 defenseman better than Gardiner?
also the Leafs quite clearly are a good team