jake gardiner is better then tyler myers i know you probably hate gardiner after game 7 but theres no way they trade jake gardiner and if they do they will want someone better in return

Gards is LD, and we have a bunch of LD at the moment. Swapping him out for a RHD makes tons of sense to me. I'm okay with Polak coming back for a year until someone like Lillejgren is ready.

swap him for a better rhd

Unfortunately his value has taken a hit. I know it's not fair to Gards who I feel is a great Offensive D-man, and needs a rock of a partner to really step up to a #1 D position.

His value hasn't taken a hit. Fans don't know any better and think that somehow game 7 was his fault, it wasn't.

Gardiner for Myers makes some sense, both teams dealing from their strengths.

Easy to say, harder to do.

It wasn't just Game 7, he's an offensive juggernaut, but he's always been liable defensively. Check out the Game Day Threads on the Leafs subreddit for evidence of that.

Fans aren't evidence. Defensively, he is the best the Leafs have with Dermott knocking on the door. Gardiner has been great outside of his usual bonehead giveaways and continues to lead the team in icetime.

The problem isn't Gardiner, the problem is no top pairing Dmen and everyone is playing out if their depth.