The best sign for the Maple Leafs’ blueline wasn’t how Jake Gardiner looked on the ice in his return.
No, it was the big smile he had on the bench, one that seldom was on display in the first 60 games of this trying season.
It’s been left unsaid, but Gardiner played through pain this year for months and months. That most didn’t pick up on it is a credit to his talent, but the back injury that nearly cost him his season has been a longstanding one, going back all the way to the fall.
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By the time the Leafs shut him down in late February – after playing just 16 minutes on the day of the trade deadline – it was clear something was seriously wrong.
Gardiner missed 18 games between then and Thursday night, when he returned against Tampa in a meaningless Game 81. A lot of that stretch was filled with doctors visits and consultations and concern that, after 549 NHL games, he might not play in a Leafs uniform again.
The Leafs caught a break, as that five weeks on the sidelines worked. He healed. Now, the Jake Gardiner that took the ice against the best team in hockey wasn’t peak Jake Gardiner, by any means, but the fact he was there at all was a huge win given where things were at even only a month ago.
He played 15 minutes at even strength and another minute and a half on the power play, handling pretty tough minutes alongside Nikita Zaitsev against a dangerous Tampa line made up of Palat-Stamkos-Johnson.
They didn’t score when he was on the ice.
Gardiner’s teammates were glad to see him back there, effortlessly grabbing and moving pucks up the ice.
“It was great,” Auston Matthews said. “I thought he stepped right in early, and he made plays. Obviously, I’m sure there’s going to be rust, but it’s fun being out there with him. He sees the ice well and makes plays, and it’s fun to be out there with a guy like that. He’s just going to keep getting better and better the more games he plays, but everyone in this locker room is really happy to have him back.”
His coach liked what he saw, too.
“I thought he was really good. He obviously hasn’t played in five weeks, right?” Mike Babcock said. “But he made lots of plays, and he created space, he made forwards better, and he didn’t give up anything. So he was good.”
The Leafs have a lot of interesting decisions to make on their blueline between now and Game 1 in Boston next Thursday. I doubt this will be the last time you’ll see them written about here.
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It appears they’re hellbent on Rielly-Hainsey being their shutdown unit up against the Bruins’ top line, which faltered a year ago in that wild series. Where the Leafs are undeniably better on the back end than last season is on pairs two and three, with the addition of Jake Muzzin and the further maturation of Travis Dermott, who was a green rookie in the spring of 2018 and was entrusted with just 13 minutes a game as a result.
Muzzin over Roman Polak is an enormous upgrade. It gives Babcock another top-four blueliner to lean on in key moments, a veteran he can trust when leading or trailing in a game.
The big question is if the 2019 Jake Gardiner can contribute the way he did a year ago, when he led the team in ice time with 22:39 a night and kept the puck out of Toronto’s end again and again.
Many remember what happened in Game 7, when the Bruins capitalized multiple times when he was on the ice and Gardiner offered a sombre apology for his poor showing. But that series only went the distance thanks to Gardiner’s steady play in Games 1 through 6, propping up Zaitsev and making up for the fact Rielly-Hainsey were getting filled in by Boston’s top players.
Now, it’s possible Gardiner may only be suited for third-pair duty by next week, given the lack of time he’s had on the ice.
It’s also possible he is banged around by the Bruins depth forwards and the back spasms flare up again.
Which may have been why Babcock was singing the praises of Calle Rosen, he of seven games NHL experience.
“If you’ve been watching, Rosen has been good, too, so that gives you an option that you didn’t know (you had),” Babcock said. “You never know when the guy comes (up). You see him skate, you see his points (in the AHL), and you’re hoping that he is going to be good.
“I’ve liked him, and I think as he gets comfortable, he’ll use his legs more. He is a real good skater. Probably his (defensive) gaps aren’t quite what they are going to be as he gets more comfortable. I’ve been impressed with him. His ability on the offensive blueline and his ability to move the puck – he’s been good. He hasn’t been a liability defensively.”
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Obviously, some arrangement of Gardiner-Zaitsev and Muzzin-Dermott, or Muzzin-Zaitsev and Gardiner-Dermott, is preferable to working in Rosen, no matter what his AHL numbers have looked like.
There’s also the fact that Rosen, himself, had been out since late February with an injury of his own (a broken foot). Dermott, meanwhile, just came off missing 14 games with a shoulder injury, for which he’s still wearing a big wrap job under his shoulder pads.
The Leafs used just six D throughout the series with Boston a year ago. That very well may not be the case this time around.
Babcock knows.
“You always need extra bodies at playoff time,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
The Leaf may be low on man-games lost overall this season, with most estimates putting them in the bottom five, but when your most pressing injury concerns have been to your biggest area of weakness, that can magnify the losses.
NHL injury visualization. Man games lost versus team wins. Bubble size represents cumulative quality of players lost (Lost-ps metric) https://t.co/9QaB6sZEGS pic.twitter.com/jmnkO5Rm6S
— Man-Games Lost NHL (@ManGamesLostNHL) March 30, 2019
Toronto’s biggest reason for optimism over last year going into these playoffs is likely the fact they now have John Tavares, but the addition of Muzzin – and the newfound balance he affords them throughout the top six – isn’t far behind.
Without Gardiner, that boost isn’t there. They’re merely using Muzzin to replace a piece they had a year ago, when the Leafs’ back end wasn’t enough.
“I think it would have been tough to go into Boston and not (having) played a game,” Gardiner said, of the significance of getting to play the Leafs’ final two regular-season games. “So I’m glad I was able to do this and then Saturday (in Montreal). Hopefully, it’s 100 percent by (the playoffs).
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“It’s a relief (to be playing). You know, I want to help this team go as far as we possibly can on this playoff run. It’s always tough when you’re sitting out with an injury and not sure if you’re going to be able to get back. Now that I am, it’s a pretty good feeling.”
As for what he sees from his team, heading into the rematch, Gardiner believes they’re a group that’s been focused on what’s ahead for quite some time.
The Bruins may have caught them off guard in Game 1 a year ago, with their aggressive forecheck and physical play key factors, but that seems far less likely this time around.
In that dressing room, the talk – and the preparation – has been about Boston for months.
“I think we’re really ready,” Gardiner said. “Every PP meeting — basically all aspects (of tactical planning) — we say ‘Oh this is what Boston’s going to do.’ We’ve just got to be ready for that.”
But they’ve got to be healthy, too. And that’s a factor that’s awfully hard to prepare for, given the unknown.
(Top photo: Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)