Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 306
Likes: 65
Its not only turnovers.. its the IQ overall and lack of effort physically. What I see when Gardiner plays is a guy with loads of skill, with good speed and a good shot but finds himself in places he shouldn't be. He pinches when he shouldn't giving up 2 on one rushes the other way, he is consistently caught puck watching in the D-Zone and loses coverage a lot. Rather than taking the body of the puck carrier he lunges for the puck often times taking himself out of position or letting the carrier fly by him.
He consistently uses the center of the ice on clearing attempts over trying off the glass or up the boards which leads to better chances for the other team over more board play, granted at this point I have to think its the Leafs' Defensive system at fault here.
When I say physical play I don't mean hitting but what I refer to is having proper body position on the opposing players to block their path or lean on them in battles or clearing the front of the net... A lot of the goals scored on Freddy is because he can't see the puck and I know that net front traffic can't be eliminated, Gardiner could use a little more effort.
At this stage the Leafs don't need their Dmen to take unnecessary risks. they need Dmen to move the puck to their wealth of talented forwards and be vigilant of defense. I like Gardiner but he needs to be dialed back.