In the leadup to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ game Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche, it was announced that young defenceman Jake Gardiner would be a healthy scratch for the second night in a row. Gardiner, 24, was recently signed to a brand new 5-year, $20 million contract.
The news that Gardiner would sit sent Leaf fans into a frenzy before Sunday’s game in New York. Of course, when this happened last year, it didn’t turn out well. Gardiner was scratched prior to a Leafs matchup with Carolina, which was won by the Hurricanes 6-1, featuring a rare John-Michael Liles goal, in his first game against Toronto since being traded. However, in that game, Gardiner was replaced by the likes of Paul Ranger or Tim Gleason. So, fans were very much justified in being angry at coach Randy Carlyle’s decision.
This time, though, Gardiner just seems to be the odd man out. When looking at the other options, it becomes clear that there wasn’t much of a choice, and, in the words of Randy Caryle, “Jake just drew the short end of the stick”. Moreover, the Leafs blew by the Rangers without Gardiner – winning 6-3.
Obviously, captain Dion Phaneuf can’t be scratched – that would cause chaos in Toronto. Cody Franson just returned from injury, so the Leafs would want him to play (they at least wanted him to make his debut on Sunday). Stephane Robidas was just made alternate captain, and was arguably the team’s biggest free agent signing last summer. Politically, it wouldn’t make sense to bench him either, despite not looking entirely healthy. Roman Polak, again, arrived last summer, and management are keen to play him – and benefit from his “veteran presence”. So, left are the youngsters: Morgan Rielly, Stuart Percy and Gardiner.
There’s no way Percy would be benched. In the Leafs’ first two games, he was probably the team’s best defenceman, despite those games being his first two ever in the NHL. Although there were some (understandable) rookie mistakes, he was solid in both ends of the ice and gave the team a spark, similarly to Rielly last year in his rookie campaign. Speaking of Rielly, he apparently was Carlyle’s preferred option for the sixth and final remaining blueline spot in the Leafs’ lineup. There hasn’t been much to separate the two so far, so it’s anyone’s guess as to why Rielly was chosen over Gardiner.
Many fans and pundits were quick to raise concerns about Gardiner’s relationship with Carlyle. Last season, it was rumoured the two didn’t see eye-to-eye. Gardiner had apparently fallen into Carlyle’s doghouse, because of a poor attitude. Those claims are shaky, however; Gardiner was second on the Leafs in ice time, averaging 21:05 per game. Now many are wondering whether this move is because Gardiner has fallen out of favour with his coach. Nevertheless, it appears that Carlyle was speaking (at least in part) truthfully when he said Gardiner drew the short straw.
Of course, this wouldn’t be Toronto without every move leading to relentless speculation. There were rumblings recently that the Leafs had an offer on the table for Carolina’s Eric Staal. Gardiner is involved in pretty much every major trade rumour involving the Leafs, so there’s a considerable buzz.
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