TLN Top Ten Plays: Jake Gardiner

Jake Gardiner seems to have been a polarizing figure over the course of his ongoing career, although I can’t for the life of me think why. Is it his occasional lapses in, uh, hockey sense? Sure, but those mistakes are much less common than you’d think by the way people talk about him. And when it comes to Gardiner, the positives far outweigh the negative.

Gardiner just enjoyed the best offensive season of his career while playing some pretty tough minutes, posting nine goals and 34 assists in the regular season and tacking on another goal and two more assists in the playoffs.

Without further ado, here are some of our favorite Gardiner plays!

Look, I know this isn’t a Leafs goal, but it’s also the most recent play on this list, so it counts. If you’re unfamiliar with Da Beauty League, it’s a four-on-four no-checking summer league based in Minnesota. A bunch of NHL and other professional guys and top college talent make up the teams, and it’s honestly a blast to watch. Gardiner (wearing 55) splits the defensemen and goes forehand-backhand to slide the biscuit in the basket, as it were. Slick.

This is a wrister from the blue line that somehow gets through literally everyone, including Cam Ward. Which, you know, it’s Cam Ward, it’s not the most surprising thing in the world. Credit to Gardiner for getting the shot on goal with apparent pinpoint accuracy, though.

Who doesn’t love a breakaway out of the penalty box? And who doesn’t love when you actually get a goal out of it? It doesn’t happen all that often, but everything works out exactly as it’s meant to here. Gardiner’s penalty expires, he steps out of the box, and good ol’ Connor Brown springs him for the eventual goal as Gardiner beats former Leaf James Reimer — also known as Optimus Reim– cleanly.

After one heck of a shift by Mitch Marner, Gardiner comes flying in from the blue line for the game-winner. The play was undoubtedly carried by Marner, but it still has to get finished, and Gardiner’s speed to the puck after Marner just loses a handle of it gave the Penguins no chance to recover from Marner’s assault.

Three words that are more likely to bring a tear of joy to my eye than “I love you”? Matthews, Nylander, Gardiner. Possibly one of my favorite 3-on-3 OT combos, they showcase their offensive ability here. Nylander recovers a puck after a Big Buff whiff and hacks it out, Matthews does a great job of getting the puck to Gardiner, and Gardiner waits for Matthieu Perreault to go down before shooting and winning the game for Toronto. Nice.

This play didn’t show up on the scoresheet, but it’s the epitome of Jake Gardiner at his best. TLN’s own Dylan Fremlin breaks it down for you in the above tweet, so I won’t even bother. But holy cow, look at that pass.

What’s better than a bomb from the blue line? Marner gets the puck to Gardiner off the draw, and Gardiner’s ready for it.

As you probably remember, this was an important game for the Leafs and their playoff hopes, and it’s Jake Gardiner’s shot deflected by hometown kid Connor Brown that gets it done. In addition to more or less sealing Toronto’s postseason berth, it was also Connor Brown’s 20th goal, netting him a rookie bonus.

Remember how the Leafs were all over the Capitals in the first round before the Capitals started putting Nate Schmidt into the lineup? Well, here’s one of those plays where the Leafs are all over the Caps. And you’ll note, it’s not like this is the Capitals’ fourth line getting hemmed in. Gardiner collects the puck off the wall as cool as anything, drifts between the circles, and neatly evades Nicklas Backstrom before shooting and scoring. Stick tap to Nazem Kadri for the screen.

Almost all of the clips shown for plays 10-2 are of goals or assists. Clearly, Gardiner is a good defenseman who’s producing at a great clip. However, so much of what he does well goes beyond that. Now, is this cheating because this is a video of many plays? Sure, maybe, but JAKE GARDINER IS GOOD AT HOCKEY AND I WANT EVERYONE TO SEE THAT.

I would like to thank Dylan Fremlin for making this video, I’ve watched it at least twelve times tonight alone. Follow him on Twitter for William Nylander appreciation GIF marathons.