Toronto Maple Leafs: The prospect of trading Jake Gardiner

With just one season left on Jake Gardiner’s current deal, questions are surfacing about his future with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but is trading him at this stage the right move?

It’s a good time to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. After making the playoffs just once in 11 seasons, the franchise has enjoyed a significant turnaround in their fortunes.

This includes; winning the top pick in the 2016 draft and using it to select Auston Matthews, making the playoffs in two consecutive seasons and recently winning the John Tavares sweepstake.

The only real area of concern for the Leafs these days, is their blue line. Not that it’s terrible, but it does have to improve, if they are to truly become a genuine Stanley Cup favourite.

With this in mind, the recent talk about trading Jake Gardiner will have likely surprised and confused a lot of people. After all, how does getting rid of one of your better defencemen help you strengthen the team?

Gardiner is coming off arguably his best season yet in the NHL. Among other things, he set career-highs for assists (tied for the team lead), overall points and blocks.

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The 28-year-old also proved to be a workhorse for the Leafs, leading them with a career-best 22:32 average ice time per contest. And he has proved to be extremely durable, playing in at least 79 games in five straight seasons, (including all 82 these past two years).

However, there is some justification for at least considering trading Gardiner. Despite all the progress he has made during his NHL career, he still makes far too many defensive mistakes.

The repeated mental lapses by the 2008 17th overall draft pick have become a regular source of concern for Leafs fans. This includes 105 giveaways during the 2017-18 campaign, third-most in the NHL and the most of his career.

Gardiner’s flaws were clearly on display during Game 7 of the Leafs’ first round series against the Boston Bruins this past season. He had two giveaways, repeatedly fumbled the puck and just generally made poor decisions.

To summarize, the general consensus is that the Minneapolis, Minnesota native is an excellent offensive blue-liner. However, his repeated mental lapses in the defensive zone compromise his ability to ever truly fulfill his potential.

There are two other factors which might encourage the Leafs to attempt to move Gardiner. The first is their clear need for more quality right-handed defencemen.

This is what prompted the Score’s Josh Wegman to suggest a straight up trade for the Winnipeg Jets’ Tyler Myers. However, despite appreciating Wegman’s rationale, overall, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

Apart from anything else, Myers is only under contract for one more season. Which brings us to the other factor.

Gardiner also only has one year left on his current deal, before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. With a team-friendly cap hit of $4.05 million, one line of thinking is the Leafs will not be able to afford to pay him a significant increase. (Especially with all the other contracts coming up for negotiation.)

With this in mind, should the Leafs try to get something for the left-hander now, rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer? In theory, yes, but only if the return package is worthwhile.

And really, that is the crux of the problem with all of this. Teams know Gardiner will be a UFA next year, so why give up valuable assets now, when you can theoretically just concentrate on his salary after the 2018-19 campaign?

Similarly, for any faults the former Anaheim Ducks’ draft pick may have, he’s still a quality player. Why should the Leafs accept a subpar return for him?

Ultimately, the Leafs are best keeping hold of Gardiner for now, except in the unlikely event of someone making an offer which blows them away. See how next season plays out before making a decision, with the knowledge they would still have until late February to trade him.

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What would you do in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ position? Look to trade Gardiner before next season, or keep hold of him, at least for now? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.