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Summer Fantasy: Jake Gardiner Still Available to the Toronto Maple Leafs

ByJames Tanner|
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 21: Toronto Maple Leafs Defenceman Jake Gardiner (51) in warmups prior to the regular season NHL game between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs on February 21, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 21: Toronto Maple Leafs Defenceman Jake Gardiner (51) in warmups prior to the regular season NHL game between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs on February 21, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made many off-season moves.

And while Jason Spezza and Nick Shore no doubt add some depth to the roster, the Toronto Maple Leafs major moves this summer amount to basically Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot for Jake Gardiner and Nazem Kadri.

Kerfoot will be hard-pressed to match Kadri’s overall impact, but he provides the Leafs with the solid defensive forward they were missing (plus he’s younger, cheaper, and signed for longer).

Barrie isn’t as good as Jake Gardiner, and regardless of what your opinion happens to be on the subject of the Leafs most divisive player, that is still a fact, so it’s hard to say if they’re any better.

Now this wouldn’t matter if the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Jake Gardiner, because if they haven’t lost him, they’re very much improved.

And guess what?

Jake Gadriner Is Still Available

Now I’m not going to waste my time explaining (again) why Jake Gardiner is awesome.  He’s played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for eight years, and for eight years people like myself have patiently been explaining that Jake Gardiner is a great player.

We’ve posted the stats.

Posted the charts.

Put it all in context.

And did it over, and over again.

At this point, if you aren’t a fan of Jake Gardiner, I’m sorry to say, but you’re ignoring evidence because it doesn’t fit your preconceived conclusions.

Say it with me: at even strength, Jake Gardiner has been one of the most effective NHL defensemen in the league for the last several  years.

If you don’t believe me, that’s totally fine – some people believe the world is flat too.

The fact is: Jake Gardiner is still available.  The Toronto Maple Leafs could put the feather in the cap of a near-perfect off-season by bringing him back.

So why is he still available? Only two options explain it:

  1. He is holding out for the Leafs to sign Marner in case there is still a chance he could come back.
  2. His back injury is scaring teams away from signing him.

In either case, it’s good news for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  As long as Gardiner is available, I’ll hold out hope that he can come back.

If he did, the Leafs would have one of the most ridiculously insane top-four blue-liners ever assembled (at least in the Salary Cap Era).

Morgain Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie?

Yes please.

I can’t say this with any degree of certainty, but I’m pretty sure that if Tyson Barrie is your fourth-best defenseman, you’re automatically the Stanley Cup Favorite.

Many people have said that Gardiner would like to return to the Leafs.  The fact that he is still available gives me hope that this is true.

The Leafs may be a little short in cap space, but I don’t think it would take much to get rid of Codi Ceci.  And, if they had to clear an extra two million, Zach Hyman remains overpaid, poorly used and still on the team.

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