The Toronto Maple Leafs added a huge contract to their salary structure this summer, signing John Tavares to a seven-year, $77MM deal on July 1st. That sent Maple Leafs fans everywhere scrambling to CapFriendly to see if the team could afford to re-sign their young forward core—Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner—to long-term extensions when the time comes, but there’s another player who could be affected by so much money going to Tavares. Jake Gardiner is heading into the final year of his current contract and is coming off the best season of his career with 52 points. The conversation on TSN radio today with guest James Mirtle of The Athletic turned to the future for Gardiner with Toronto:
I think that this new management with [Kyle] Dubas and Brandon Pridham and Laurence Gilman is going to try and not lose good players for nothing in free agency. That would mean deciding right now whether you want to sign Jake Gardiner to a contract extension or moving him and getting something back…
…I think at the very least you explore what does he want in a contract extension and are you comfortable with that, and then you also explore what is he available for in the market. If you can get something of equal value to Jake Gardiner–which might be a difficult trade to make, but if you can–then I think you’ve got to think about it. You don’t want to be taking key pieces of your team, and regardless of how poorly he played in the playoffs he is a key piece of their team, you don’t want to keep losing those for nothing.
Mirtle of course is referencing the three other key forwards that the Maple Leafs let walk into free agency this summer, losing Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komarov to big multi-year contracts elsewhere around the league. Though it wasn’t clear if the Maple Leafs ever had much intention of bringing any of them back, signing Tavares basically guaranteed that they wouldn’t be able to. That might not be the same situation for Gardiner, as the team needs to pay someone to play defense on their team and have relied on the 28-year old to log big minutes for them. Mirtle gives another nugget of information late in the interview, reporting that the two sides have in fact met to discuss a potential extension.
I know that Gardiner’s agent Pat Brisson–the same agent as Tavares–has met with Kyle Dubas and talked about Jake Gardiner’s contract. So it’s on their radar. I’m sure that management just wants to know what he’s asking for and they can make the decision on whether they want to meet that price or not.
Again, it’s not clear if the Maple Leafs have any intention of offering Gardiner an extension or would be willing to let him walk into free agency next summer. The talented but sometimes frustrating defenseman has a penchant for both incredible breakout passes and defensive zone miscues, but has been one of the most consistent offensive producers in the league the last few seasons. Scheduled to turn 29 just a few days after he becomes an unrestricted free agent, there will be plenty of teams willing to pay for his offensive production and live with some of the struggles he can have in his own end. It’s hard to find consistent points from the blue line, and Gardiner has proven he can reliably run a powerplay and contribute at even-strength.
Still, that Tavares contract makes any extension for the Maple Leafs more difficult. Though they currently look to have more than $30MM in cap space for the 2019-20 season, much of that will be eaten up by the contracts for those three aforementioned young players including a potential $10MM+ cap hit for Matthews. Even past those three, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson will be looking for new deals after their first full NHL seasons and the team will have to find a replacement of some sort for Ron Hainsey as his deal is also set to expire. If Gardiner is looking for a long-term big money deal, it may not be in the cards for Toronto.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
noooooooooooo. move him. move him now
The tavares signing was kind of a head scratcher. They have zero defense lol, they should have went and got karlson and resign gardnier and probably brought back riemsdyke. They already have 3 top line centermen. Cant have the all on the ice at once….
No but you can run one awesome line out after the other and opposing teams can’t match up. Teams can play their top D pair against Matthews, leaving the 2nd best pair to go against Tavares. Can’t just “go out and get Karlsson.” He’d have cost the Leafs a ton in prospects, Tavares was a free agent that didn’t cost anything but money.
Plenty of teams can match up with the Leafs lineup. They aren’t even the best team in their own division.
Which other team in the NHL have the likes of Matthews, Tavares, and Kadri down the middle?
The Penguins have Crosby, Malkin, and Brassard. As much as I dislike the Penguins, I’ll take Crosby and Malkin over Matthews and Tavares.
Right. Those good old multiple Cup champions. Malkin/Crosby/Brassard combined for 92 goals. The Leafs trio, 104. If the Penguins are the best comparison to the Leafs, I’ll take the 3 Cups in 4 years.
And if you can name 3 defence from Pittsburgh’s most recent cup without looking them up, you deserve a lot of credit. Hint: one of them is playing for Toronto now.
hainsey, Schultz, maata, Daley, cole
Right. Full of superstar D. My point is, the Leafs current D corps are equal to or superior to that star studded cup winning D.
Depends what he is asking for. Shouldn’t be paid more than Rielly ($5 million cap hit) in my opinion. So as long as he sticks around the 4 million he’s at now, I think that contract would have value.
I highly doubt he is looking at anything less than 5.5 million. I too wouldn’t give him that as I think you can find a d man who can make a great pass but can’t play a lick of actual defense for much less.
only difference is most teams don’t give players like that 22+ minutes a night
Trade this bum immediately
“…sometimes frustrating…”??? Are you kidding me? He meanders in his own zone, effectively checking no one, he constantly goes for the hone run pass when a 10foot pass will do. This guys brain checks out with any pressure on him, oh and his shot couldn’t even get through a stiff wind. Trade him. Package him up for someone who can defend!