[Signing] Canes sign Jake Gardiner - 4 years $4.05 mil AAV

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

I may be in the minority, but I am not a fan of Gardiner. Poor man's Brodie if I am being generous. $4mm AAV is fine, but I still think he will be a whipping boy in Carolina (if there are enough fans there to give a whip).

Leafs obviously agree...they wanted to trade Kadri for Brodie and let Gardiner walk

[monkeyman]

How's his Duck, Duck, Goose game?

[cannon7]

Hasn't Faulk been the subject of trade rumours for a couple seasons now?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

I never really understood why Gardiner was being rated so highly in free agency, and I guess all of the GMs couldn't understand it either. The number is good for what Gardiner brings, but it's not too far either way from his worth.

The answer is Leafs media overhyping made it appear he was more coveted than he was. I wonder if he turned down better offers on July 1st because he or his agent bought into the TOR media hype train?

Exact same thing happened with Cody Franson a few years earlier.

I suspect many around the league see him ideally as a bottom pairing power play specialist. Just because you play top 4 on a team with mediocre defensive depth does not mean every GM in the league wants you to play in their top 4.

[ricardodw]

8 teams are were out of the running for Gardiner because they are waiting on their ELC/RFA. Only about 5-6 teams that have 4M in "spare" cap space.

Frolik not getting traded anywhere without cap coming back or Flames retaining