I was listening to Leafs Lunch and Craig Button brought up something that I found interesting- that Gardiner could be a D-man the Leafs target this off-season.

Many Leafs fans including myself had accepted that this was Gardiner’s last year with the Leafs. He’s a relatively young UFA and the Leafs have too much cap money tied up for next year. This was based on the assumption that Marleau was not going to waive his NMC and that Zaitsev’s contract right-handedness force the team into keeping him.

But as we now know, a Marleau deal might be possible, and Zaitsev wants out. That’s $10.75M in cap hit out the door. Obviously such trades might involve money coming back, but there have been rumors of the Leafs taking on an LTIR contract. Trading both players should mean freeing up significant cap space.

The point is, all of the talk since (and before) the Zaitsev news has been on which D-men to target via trade and free agency. But what about Gardiner? He’s a known quantity, enjoys being a Leaf (I think), knows the team/system/city, and might be able to be signed for cheaper than similar D-men. Dubas has said he wants to re-sign Gardiner, and while that might be GM lip service, I think the Leafs organization really does like him.

The main issue I see is that the Dubas wants to know what Marner’s contract looks like before doing anything significant. If Marner isn’t signed by July 1st, Gardiner is free to sign anywhere. It’s in Gardiner’s best interest to sign a deal he likes ASAP. And if the Zaitsev/Marleau deals don’t happen before July 1, it’s a huge risk to re-sign Gards. Also he’s a LHD, which we are overstocked on.

TL;DR : 2 weeks ago I thought there was a 1% chance Gardiner re-signs with the Leafs, but now it looks like the team can afford him if they want to bring him back. Is this something Dubas should look into, provided that Gardiner is willing to take a team-friendly deal?