Jake Gardiner, 28
Let’s get this out of the way now. Jake Gardiner, for all of his many detractors, is in line for a big payday this offseason and he could well be way out of the Golden Knight’s price range.
However, the Toronto Maple Leafs blueliner is a valuable talent despite the wrinkles in his game and he would be the top four defenseman Vegas craves.
Gardiner’s biggest strength is his smooth-skating ability coupled with the way he can dish the puck, enabling his team to transition into the offensive zone both smoothly and quickly.
He’s a typical offensive blueliner and he ranks 23rd in defensemen over the last three seasons in points with 125, and he registered 30 points (three goals, 27 assists) in 63 regular season games for the Leafs in 2018-19.
Despite missing chunks of action in each of the last two years due to injury, Gardiner is usually durable having only missed eight games in five years prior to this season.
And whatever some Toronto fans may say about Gardiner, and it is usually negative, the Maple Leafs actually suffered without one of their biggest assets on the ice this year.
During a 12 game stretch when Gardiner was in the press box with back spasms, Toronto allowed 45 goals and were averaging 3.75 goals against per game so, put it simply, the Leafs were actually better when the 28-year-old was on the ice.
Of course, like all players Gardiner has his flaws and he’s prone to imploding in the defensive zone and giving up costly turnovers that too often lead to goals for the other team – he had 53 giveaways in 18-19. No one will easily forget that performance in Game 7 against the Boston Bruins in 2017-18 where Gardiner was minus-five and simply melted on the biggest stage.
However, Gardiner is a proven commodity and his 245 points in 551 career games (not including playoffs) make him an offensive weapon on the blueline. Likely to demand a yearly salary in the region of $6 million once he hits free agency, the question is whether or not the Vegas Golden Knights would be able to pull off a salary cap miracle and lure Jake Gardiner to Sin City.
If they can then they would without doubt have one of the strongest top four units on the blueline in the NHL in 2019-20 in Gardiner, Shea Theodore, Nate Schmidt and one other, which could be one of the franchise’s many young studs.