Last night’s Game 7 loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins must have felt like a cruel joke to the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fanbase. Not only did the Leafs blow it in the biggest game of the season for the second year in a row, but the eventual game winning goal by the Bruins was the direct fault of Leafs blue liner Jake Gardiner… again.
You may recall that it was Gardiner who got turnstiled by Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk for the go-ahead goal in Game 7 a year ago:
Well… last night it was Gardiner with an awful turnover to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead and the eventual game winner:
Fair to say that Game 7s aren’t really Jake Gardiner’s thing…
With the offseason now here for the Leafs and with Gardiner potentially headed to free agency, Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has some big decisions to make. Does he bring Gardiner back? If so, at what cost?
Well, it seems that Gardiner may have already made Dubas’ decision for him. He’s gone.
According to a second hand report from Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal, Gardiner insists that he will NOT be signing a deal with a Canadian team this offseason. This obviously means that his time with the Leafs is now over.
The 28 year old is coming off a 30 point season, a steep drop off from he 52 points he put up a season ago.
