Jake Gardiner - he is finally free of the Carlyle cage

[Wfactor]

I am going to analyze the potential that the recent firing, of now former head coach Randy Carlyle will have on the production of Jake Gardiner. He (Gardiner) has gone from a situation where he was scared to make a mistake in case of being benched, even if he in turn creates three scoring chances by taking the puck end to end and getting a good shot or pass opportunity.

Let’s look at his stats: 37 GP, 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 9 Points, -11, 8 PIM, 49 SOG, 4.1SH%, 20:04 TOI

The points are definitely lacking this season, after getting 31 last season, and 30 in 11-12 he is only on pace for 19 points. His On-Ice shooting percentage is not good, sitting at 7.41; near him on the list are Kozun, Polak, and Smith…not good company.
Another reason you can look at his numbers and critique something is his powerplay work, having only three PPP so far this season. He is averaging a nice but not great 2:31 PP-TOI, which is also his career high. Yet he is on pace for a career low in points, his powerplay minutes are a major reason I think he will respond in the second half of this season, and once again close in on 30 points for this season.

Advanced stats: Corsi On -10.78 / Corsi Relative 4.9 / On-ice SH% 7.41 / PDO 990 / Off Zone Start% 45.7 / Off Zone Finish% 49.4
All I can say after looking at all of those statistics is, Buy Low!

He is the best leaf defencemen, at keeping the puck in the offensive zone when he starts there. You can tell this by the fact his OZF% is the highest of the top six, and his solid Corsi On -10.78. Which on a team like Toronto is good considering his Corsi Relative is +4.9, trailing only Rielly in Corsi Rel.
If he can start firing the puck more you will see and improvement in assist numbers. A lot of goals are created from tip-ins and rebounds in today’s game. He is at this moment at 1.32 shots per game, down from last season’s 1.65 per game where he set a career high 135 shots in 80 games played.
What better time to show management what they saw under Carlyle this season won’t become a habit, and to start anew under whichever coach replaces Carlyle. The coach for the moment is the two new assistants hired by Shanahan the previous off season.

[Dobber]

Definitely worth a flier