Would you swap 1 year of Jake Gardiner at $4.05m for 2 years of Justin Braun at $3.8m?

[zeke]

I am the biggest Quality of Competition guys anywhere, and Braun does get some of the most extreme usage in hockey (2nd only to his partner, Vlasic).

But even factoring in QoC, Braun still stinks.

 

[Mugzy97]

This thread... Really?

Gardiner for Braun and a 1st and I'd be interested.

 

[PromisedLand]

Gardiner for Braun and a 1st and I'd be interested.

If we didn't get Tavares then I would have been interested but with JT I think we should be going for it with Matthews and Marner in their last year of ELC.

Gards put up 50 points last season; and yes it is quite possible that we may lose him as he walks but we would have given the cup our best shot

also that first rounder from the sharks now that they have Karlsson and Yeti on the backend.... not sure how good that might be...

 

[The Best Leafs Ever]

Absolutely we will take him but we will need at least 4 1st round picks nothing protected and we will eat this salary dump.

 

[Mugzy97]

If we didn't get Tavares then I would have been interested but with JT I think we should be going for it with Matthews and Marner in their last year of ELC.

Gards put up 50 points last season; and yes it is quite possible that we may lose him as he walks but we would have given the cup our best shot

also that first rounder from the sharks now that they have Karlsson and Yeti on the backend.... not sure how good that might be...

Sure Gardiner can put up points, but with the offense we have now, do we really need our defense to contribute on the scoreboard? I don't really think we do. Our left side is very strong so subtracting from it may benefit the team more if we can bolster up our right side with a defensive type dman. Just a theory. Without Gardiner, Our LD depth is still strong:
Rielly
Hainsey
Dermott
Borgman
Rosen
Marincin

 

[TheProspector]

f*** no. Braun isn't remotely a substitute for Gardiner.

 

[nuck]

The Sharks have no need for Gards skill set so not a swap but... I believe Braun would be an upgrade on Carrick or 37 year old Hainsey or last years Zaitsev. If its him or run with last years group I am in. As far as Gards goes does anyone thing the club will have the cap space to bring him back, even if they want to run an all left shot D? Regardless of which RD they are able to bring in there is no long term value in resigning him so long as they have Reilly and an improving Dermott.

Although JoeThorntonRooster's assessment scares me

 

[kb]

If we didn't get Tavares then I would have been interested but with JT I think we should be going for it with Matthews and Marner in their last year of ELC.

Gards put up 50 points last season; and yes it is quite possible that we may lose him as he walks but we would have given the cup our best shot

also that first rounder from the sharks now that they have Karlsson and Yeti on the backend.... not sure how good that might be...

Isn't their next first that is not spoken for in like 2022?

 

[kb]

Hainsey and Brown for Braun?

 

[PromisedLand]

looks like Gards is gonna be re-signed. Look at what Babs had to say at the very end of this video

 

[Magic Man]

Gards is re-signing to a home town discount. He loves it here.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Jake is the better defender. A pick/prospect would have to be involved. I know the money is better for this summer but...

 

[BigBlu]

0.4M doesn't "solve" our Marleau problem..

 

[Duke Silver]

No, but I would for Darnell Nurse, who will come in at a lower salary than a re-signed Garinder. He's everything we're lacking right now. Dermott can take Gardiner's place as our #2 offensive LHD.

Rielly - Nurse
Dermott - Zaitsev
Hainsey - Carrick
Holl

 

[thewave]

43% of people... Really? Lol. Ok. Remember the names that voted for this and get your grains of salt ready for the hfboards season

 

[thewave]

0.4M doesn't "solve" our Marleau problem..

He isn't a problem until he is. He won't be our problem. Matthews asking 13-14 million is the problem and between us at hfboards... Matthews mom and chronic back problem is all I am going to say, both are bad.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Gardiner shows just how toxic Leafs nation can be. This is a guy who has given his all for the team. He was brought in by past terrible management and survived, and has grown his game exceptionally well especially here last few years. Historically, outside of ONE bad game, he has been a beast in the playoffs. His underlying numbers put him in the best of the league for D in a lot of areas. He just came off a 50 point season.

And then you see fans who would give him away for free because he had a bad game. Guys who trash him for a mistake after he has already had a 3 point night and been a key piece in maintaining pressure against the other team by moving the puck well to our forwards.

It makes me know for a fact that if we ever got a guy like Subban who plays the same way, he would be run otu of town eventually too. In Nashville they just love him, hell even in Montreal. Here he wouldn't be good enough at defense, would have this or that issue.

And then because of how overly critical we are of these guys, main board idiots grasp onto "player x is bad" and just trash the hell out of them leading to more discussion and media picking it up. How anyone can look at the BODY of work of Jake Gardiner and say he is a bad player is laughable.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

I'm no longer a fan of Jake's but I still wouldn't do this.

Would rather have the cap-space next season.

 

[56 Years No Cup]

looks like Gards is gonna be re-signed. Look at what Babs had to say at the very end of this video

That was hardly a vote of confidence.

 

[IPS]

I don’t think Braun is much of an upgrade over Hainsey, Zaitsev, Carrick or Oz. If anything I think Leafs management is keen on competition in camp and moving guys who may not make the starting roster.

The only guys (in my mind) who have spots on the roster are Rielly, Gardiner and Zaitsev. Some may say Hainsey, but he played a lot last year and is another year older, he should be battling it out with the other guys.

Four of the following will make the team.

Dermott
Hainsey
Carrick
Oz
Holl
Marincin
Rosen
Borgman

From that competition, I have no idea what we’ll see happen, but I think we’ll see some minor trades/swaps.

It would be nice to collect some picks.

How exactly is he not an upgrade over Carrick, Holl or Oz?

Carrick sucks and we've never seen Holl or Oz for any extensive period of time. Braun is a veteran guy who's played shutdown minutes and prime PK minutes.

 

[LeafGrief]

Good lord no. Jake is a good hockey player. Even when we account for his defensive gaffes, the Leafs score more goals than the other team when he's on the ice by every conceivable metric. Seeing as scoring more goals is the objective of the hockey game, that helps the Leafs win.

If we could add another Gardiner or a Tanev for free, I think we need the Tanev more, but giving up Gardiner for a weaker player makes the Leafs worse. We should be finding Jake a partner that compliments him, not shipping him out asap.

 

[member 147413]

How exactly is he not an upgrade over Carrick, Holl or Oz?

Carrick sucks and we've never seen Holl or Oz for any extensive period of time. Braun is a veteran guy who's played shutdown minutes and prime PK minutes.

“Much of an upgrade”

Hainsey plays prime PK minutes.

Braun plays behind a Norris contender and one of the best Defensive D in the league. Not to mention he’s 31 and not fleet of foot. Our guys are younger and have room to grow.

 

[IPS]

“Much of an upgrade”

Hainsey plays prime PK minutes.

Braun plays behind a Norris contender and one of the best Defensive D in the league. Not to mention he’s 31 and not fleet of foot. Our guys are younger and have room to grow.

Hainsey got burned into the ground by playing by far the most PK minutes in the league. The reason I want to acquire Braun is to offload some of those ridiculous minutes Hainsey played. Polak's gone, and we need a PK replacement. Rielly gets his PK minutes limited because he sucks at it. Gardiner doesn't even play the PK and it's highly recommended that Dermott doesn't see the PK with his 48 games of NHL experience. If it's the same burnt-out Hainsey going in the playoffs again we are royally f***ed. Our defense is bad and we unfortunately rely on him to play a key role.

If you're relying on Holl or Carrick to step in to do that don't be surprised if they flop hard.

 

[member 147413]

Hainsey got burned into the ground by playing by far the most PK minutes in the league. The reason I want to acquire Braun is to offload some of those ridiculous minutes Hainsey played. Polak's gone, and we need a PK replacement. Rielly gets his PK minutes limited because he sucks at it. Gardiner doesn't even play the PK and it's highly recommended that Dermott doesn't see the PK with his 48 games of NHL experience. If it's the same burnt-out Hainsey going in the playoffs again we are royally ****ed. Our defense is bad and we unfortunately rely on him to play a key role.

If you're relying on Holl or Carrick to step in to do that don't be surprised if they flop hard.

So you want to spend assets on a band-aid solution that won’t be a significant upgrade. It’s bad asset management unless you acquire him cheap and send out other assets.

 

[IPS]

So you want to spend assets on a band-aid solution that won’t be a significant upgrade. It’s bad asset management unless you acquire him cheap and send out other assets.

We're in win now mode, why would you call it a "band-aid" solution? We need a stop-gap solution until our younger d-men are ready to step up. Look at the team for crying out loud, minor additions and tweaks can be the difference between a cup win and a loss in the conference finals. If we're in game 7 against the Penguins and Hainsey takes a penalty with 3 minutes left in the 3rd in a tie game, you're seriously ok with the cast of PK'ing defensemen we got?