Jake Gardiner reveals why he chose to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The curious summer of veteran defenseman Jake Gardiner has reached its conclusion. It was announced last week that Gardiner had come to terms on a new 4 year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, a deal that will pay him an average annual value of just over $4 million per season. It ended a summer of questions and rumors for Gardiner, but it has left many wondering why in the end he opted to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Throughout the summer the fact that there was no talk on the Gardiner front left many fans and pundits scratching their heads as to where the veteran defenseman could possibly end up. It was not until several weeks into free agency that two prominent rumors surfaced, neither of which would come to fruition in the end. The first was a rumor suggesting that Gardiner intended to remain a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and had a handshake agreement in place with Maple Leafs' general manager Kyle Dubas. That rumor suggested that Gardiner would be signed once the Marner contract had been worked out, however the Leafs would have struggled to find the cap space to make a Gardiner signing happen.

The other rumor emerged much later in the summer, and that rumor linked the former Toronto Maple Leafs to a Canadian rival, the Montreal Canadiens. In fact reports have surfaced suggesting that the Canadiens may have offered Gardiner similar money on a 3 year term, a deal that Gardiner would obviously choose to reject in the end. The average annual value of the Habs deal was believed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million but with a significantly higher tax rate in Quebec than in Carolina, the money was much closer than those to offers would have suggested. 

It is unclear if the one extra year offered by the Hurricanes played a factor at all in his decision, but when asked by reporters why he signed with the Canes Gardiner seemed to indicate that it had not. Instead the former Maple Leaf stated that, of the options that were available to him, the Hurricanes presented his best chance to win a championship.

"I want to win a Stanley Cup, and I thought this was my best chance to do it," said Gardiner.

It's an interesting comment given that many considered the Hurricanes 2019 Stanley Cup Playoff run something of a cinderella run, but Gardiner clearly believes they can do it again with his help.