It's not often in the NHL that you hear a player's potential availability in trade referred to as "implied," but that may be the case when it comes to Toronto Maple Leafs blueliner, Jake Gardiner.
Leafs general manager Dave Nonis may not be making the rounds and gauging league-wide desire for Gardiner's services, but he's also not hanging up the phone when interested parties call round to the house either.
"It's always been out there, but I think that again, every time we talk about a name player, and I think it's fair to call Jake Gardiner that, you have to qualify it," said TSN Insider Darren Dreger on an episode of Toronto's TSN 1050 early Tuesday morning, as transcribed by NicholsOnHockey.com.
"Do I think that Dave Nonis is calling managers to say, 'Hey, what are you going to give me for Gardiner?' No. But I think that it's implied around the league that Jake Gardiner is available."
Gardiner, who signed a new five-year pact that carries a cap hit of $4.05 million this past offseason, continues to display a baffling amount of inconsistency to his game on the ice. After being a healthy scratch against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, he was back in the lineup and led the team in ice-time against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
He played about as you'd expect - really well for stretches, until the wheels came off.
"I thought Jake played really well, until the third period," said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, per Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "He got caught in a couple of situations."
For the Leafs, Gardiner's contract shouldn't be a hindrance to a potential trade. And, inconsistency or not, he's still a very talented, young defenseman who can skate, shoot and pass with aplomb.
As Dreger notes, with a number of players - like Nazem Kadri and Cody Franson - coming up for new contracts, Nonis has his work cut out for him - the team currently only has about $1.2 million in cap space - and may be forced to move a piece or two.
