Is it time for the Maple Leafs to consider trading Jake Gardiner?

When Francois Beauchemin played for the Maple Leafs, it too often seemed as though we rarely saw the player we thought we were getting from Anaheim.  He played hard and sometimes well, but he was not always the decisive, at ease player he had been in his earlier life with the Ducks.

Interestingly, when the veteran defender returned to the Ducks after his relatively brief stay in Toronto, there were suggestions coming out of Anaheim that he had indeed lost his confidence during his time with the blue and white. (He wouldn’t be the first player that has happened too, unfortunately.)

Since returning to the Ducks, Beauchemin has become a go-to player. He’s a team leader, a minute-eating defenseman for Bruce Boudreau, someone who takes on important responsibilities on the Anaheim blueline.

So while Leaf fans probably shouldn’t say we “won” the trade that brought Joffrey Lupul and Jake Gardiner here, I sense that’s how most of us have felt since the deal was made.  Leaf followers like myself probably didn’t think much about the deal at the time. Beauchemin had struggled here for the most part, so his loss was not a big deal.  Lupul was an often-injured forward some observers figured may have already seen his best days.  Gardiner was a relative unknown to many of us, but we soon came to realize that he was a very talented young player.  That Lupul also found new life with  the Leafs provided the sense for a long time that it was a great trade for us—and in many ways it has been, despite the team’s lack of success since they were acquired.

Gardiner soon became a player fans built our hopes around, someone who has wheels, who could seemingly skate away from trouble, much like Tomas Kaberle in his early days.  His defensive deficiencies were evident, but we assumed those things could be worked on.  Gardiner was awfully young, gifted, and had a bright future.

Fast forward to the present.  Gardiner is still young (24), and still can wheel with the puck. While he has been a healthy scratch at times in his Toronto tenure under Carlyle, you have to figure the  brass still thinks highly of him.  My guess is that any time Dave Nonis talks on the phone with a rival GM, and Nonis indicates he’s looking for a battle-tested forward (center?), the response is something along the lines of: “Sure, let’s talk.  We'll take Gardiner and…”. 

That has no doubt ended many a conversation from Nonis' perspective.

Those who have followed VLM over the past few years will know that I loathe the idea of the Leafs trading away young defensemen.  Why?  Well, you really can never have too many defensemen, especially if you think you are any kind of serious playoff contender.  You need serious depth to make a playoff run because attrition through injuries and spotty play is inevitable.

But more than that, I simply don’t like the idea of giving away defensemen only to see them achieve their potential somewhere else. (While tempting, I won’t go through what I see as a list of young Leaf rearguards who, over the past forty plus years, have either not been developed properly here, saw their careers curtailed by injuries while they were rushed into the lineup or were dealt away before they achieved their promise…)

Having followed Gardiner’s young career in Toronto, there are some things I have been on the lookout for.  Acknowledging he still does things that make me want to “believe” in him and his potential, it feels (maybe only to me) that he continues to hit the same wall a lot of the time, while trying and doing the same things that create the same old issues.

So my question is, and I know many will see this as a non-starter, but: should the Leafs actually seriously consider (if they haven’t already) trading Gardiner?

I say this with the following things in mind:

• He has not played 300 games in the NHL, a threshold some coaches and experts talk about when assessing defensemen.
• I indicated in a post this past summer that it was a relief that the Leafs had kept Gardiner and were building with a young, mobile defense.
• This consideration on my part has nothing to do with the often-stated premise that the Leafs don’t need two “offensive” defensemen (i.e. Rielly and Gardiner).  All things being equal, keeping both could work, in my view.
• We/I may look back and say, “we shouldn’t have traded him”.
• While he is a talented guy, I feel as though he has a limited offensive “bag of tricks”.
• While defensemen typically mature later and can have long, productive careers, it’s beginning to feel that the little signs I was hoping to see in Jake’s game are not materializing.
• He will never be, it seems, a physical defenseman, and that’s fine.  But you need to be hard to play against, and you can’t give the puck up easily around your own net without a battle.  Too many times (at least in my mind) we see Gardiner give up the puck in a one-on-one situation.
• It seems, again maybe only to me, that the coaching staff has tried for years to work with him.  Yet he continues to do his own thing and play “Lone Ranger” too much of the time.
• Gardiner is already making more than four million a year.  I guess that’s a “fair” contract for the team, given that the cap will increase. But it’s still a big ticket for a player that may not become a rare offensive talent and is not a premium defensive player.
• More importantly, is he a guy who the coach (whether Carlyle or anyone else) will want on the ice in the final 60 seconds of a close game?
• You do not have to be super physical, and certainly not a big hitter, to be a really good NHL defenseman. But again, you do need to compete hard against the other team’s forwards, and especially so along the boards, in front of your net and in the defensive zone.
• I could be wrong, but I believe Gardiner is considered a strong "possession" player.  But do possession stats tell us the full story when a defender coughs up the puck under mild pressure that turns into a goal?

Gardiner has his admirers, I realize.  I’ve often made a case for giving him the time to become what Leaf fans hope he can and will be. Just last night against the Rangers (I write this before the Ottawa game on Sunday night) he assisted on Komarov's late winner, which meant two big points for the Leafs. 

So while I’m not necessarily advocating that he must be dealt, I will say this: I think you only build a winning team with players that buy-in to the team premise.

This Leaf squad, it seems to me, is filled with individually talented players.  Forget the decade plus between playoff round victories and the not-very-strong rosters of the past.  While we still lack the overall roster skill to maybe compete consistently with the NHL's best teams, we do have a number of NHL players who, in the right roles, can be effective, I believe.

But, when we look at the very recent past -and the present roster- and assess the players who have been on this team for the past two years or more (Phaneuf, Kessel, van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Reimer, Bernier, Kadri, Lupul, Clarkson, Franson, Frattin, Holland, Ashton, Komarov, Rielly and Gardiner) do we have the sense that this is a group that, individually and collectively, has the ‘will’ and desire to do the hard jobs required to win in today’s NHL?

Skill is immensely important.  You can’t win without it. Gardiner and other Leafs have that.

But you need more than just skill to be victorious on a consistent basis in any of the major team sports. I believe character, grit, team play, hating to lose and work ethic are still huge factors in success in sports.

My point again is: we need a team of guys who ‘buy in’ to the team ethic.  That means following the system, even if you think it may not be best for you individually. (I assume, if there are serious issues about systems play, the veterans would go to the assistant coaches or to Carlyle directly and have that conversation.)

In saying all this, it's clear Gardiner is hardly alone in terms of his defensive zone play. And he is certainly young enough that he could well take giant leaps forward in the years ahead.

Yet when players make the same mistakes over and over, or seemingly refuse to modify their approach to playing the game even when the coaches tell them to do so, I begin to question whether that player really wants to be here on anything other than his own terms.

I am nowhere near close enough to the Leaf situation to know where Gardiner fits in all this.  I know what I “see”, but beyond that, I’m out of the loop.  Is he coachable?  Is he truly doing everything the coaches are asking of him?  Is he dedicated to improving his play in his own zone? Is he realistic about the kind of player he is?  Have we, as fans, over-rated his offensive skills, and potential?

If Gardiner were moved, would Leaf supporters look back and say, as I noted above, "We should have kept him?". Or might the prevailing view be: "We traded him at the right time, while we could still get a very good return that helped build a winning team...?".

As always, there are more questions than answers.  But I’m thinking the time may be that the Leafs should consider moving this asset, while he is still seen in the hockey world as someone with immense promise. 

On a team where there should be few, if any, untouchables beyond Rielly, it's a discussion that might be worth having.