Yeah I agree. I also haven't seen him struggle defensivley at all so whatever..
- ClarksonDavid

It's hard to struggle defensively when you're SCORING ALL THE TIME.

You're a (frank)ing bumhole.

It's not like I had a Master's degree in history or Arts and litterature.
- Scabeh

Poor Ahjay

You're a (frank)ing bumhole.

It's not like I had a Master's degree in history or Arts and litterature.
- Scabeh

not long til fantasy time was working on my lists last night.
- Lucas.Neilson

Brother, I have been ready for the past week! We started our slow draft yesterday because it is too hard to get everyone's schedules to jive. We did it last year and just texted the next guy up after making our pick so you could pop in and out of the draft room at your leisure. It went fairly quickly but so far this year only the 1st pick was made and it has been over 19 hours waiting (24 hour time limit)for buddy picking 2nd to get his thumb out of his ass!

Do you really?
- Scabeh

God no

- AdamFrench

Too bad it didn't teach you how to write

RELATIVE SHOT ATTEMPTS

The primary way that a defenceman can impact his team defensively is by limiting the number of shots that the other team gets. By that measure, Gardiner has been extremely good over the past three seasons. The best way to measure this is Corsi Against per 60 minutes of ice time at even strength, relative to a player's teammates. Relative Corsi takes the shot attempts when a player is on the ice and subtracts the shot attempts when he's on the bench, so it gives us a good idea of how much better (or worse) a team does with a given player compared to his teammates. For Corsi Against, a low number is better (ex. -5.0 would mean the team allows 5 fewer shot attempts with a player on the ice while +5.0 would mean the team allows 5 shots more). Here are the top 10 players by CA/60 Rel over the past 3 seasons (minimum 100 games played):

Player GP CA60 Rel
Giordano 207 -8.84
Gardiner 238 -7.92
Ekholm 224 -7.74
Diaz 119 -7.37
Stralman 236 -7.28
Campbell 246 -7.25
Brodie 232 -7.18
Orlov 136 -6.77
Ekman-Larsson 237 -6.4
Tanev 203 -6.08

Only one regular defenceman in the entire NHL has done a better job than Gardiner at limiting shot attempts relative to his teammates over the past three seasons: Mark Giordano.


- nbboy

That's what happens when you compare players who play against the other teams top lines and 1 that doesn't.

- AdamFrench

moron

- AdamFrench

Lots of great career opportunities I'm sure.

RELATIVE SHOT ATTEMPTS

The primary way that a defenceman can impact his team defensively is by limiting the number of shots that the other team gets. By that measure, Gardiner has been extremely good over the past three seasons. The best way to measure this is Corsi Against per 60 minutes of ice time at even strength, relative to a player's teammates. Relative Corsi takes the shot attempts when a player is on the ice and subtracts the shot attempts when he's on the bench, so it gives us a good idea of how much better (or worse) a team does with a given player compared to his teammates. For Corsi Against, a low number is better (ex. -5.0 would mean the team allows 5 fewer shot attempts with a player on the ice while +5.0 would mean the team allows 5 shots more). Here are the top 10 players by CA/60 Rel over the past 3 seasons (minimum 100 games played):

Player GP CA60 Rel
Giordano 207 -8.84
Gardiner 238 -7.92
Ekholm 224 -7.74
Diaz 119 -7.37
Stralman 236 -7.28
Campbell 246 -7.25
Brodie 232 -7.18
Orlov 136 -6.77
Ekman-Larsson 237 -6.4
Tanev 203 -6.08

Only one regular defenceman in the entire NHL has done a better job than Gardiner at limiting shot attempts relative to his teammates over the past three seasons: Mark Giordano.


- nbboy

those stats are both a function of polak, hunwick etc. being bad and gardiner being an effective puck mover out of his zone.

moron
- Symba007

What's good on the rumour chart?

Too bad it didn't teach you how to write
- RickJames77

moron
- Symba007

WHAT ABOUT GOALS?

One of the complaints about Corsi is that it doesn't take shot quality into account. I think there's pretty good evidence that defencemen are not able to significantly affect save percentage. That's why shot attempts are the best measure of how a defenceman is contributing defensively. But for the sake of argument, let's say that defencemen are able to significantly affect SV% and that therefore we should be looking at goals against rather than shots against to determine who is playing well. Let's look at the top 10 players in GA/60 Rel over the past 3 seasons (once again limiting to a minimum of 100 GP):

Player GP Rel.GA60
Marincin 150 -0.71
Millar 159 -0.69
Bellemore 113 -0.64
Niskanen 245 -0.57
Campbell 246 -0.45
Larsson 172 -0.45
Liles 179 -0.44
Gryba 185 -0.41
Gardiner 238 -0.37
Tanev 203 -0.36

Well what do you know, Jake Gardiner appears near the top of the league again. Regardless of whether you use goals or shots, Gardiner winds up looking great.

What's good on the rumour chart?
- AustonPowers

what rumour chart?

Too bad it didn't teach you how to write
- RickJames77

Insulting bloggers will not be tolerated.

Enjoy your ban.

I, for one, will miss you.

what rumour chart?
- Symba007

How is the no-ad experience on the site?

Insulting bloggers will not be tolerated.

Enjoy your ban.

I, for one, will miss you.
- Scabeh

Shoot em Pa....
- the_eye

WHAT ABOUT GOALS?

One of the complaints about Corsi is that it doesn't take shot quality into account. I think there's pretty good evidence that defencemen are not able to significantly affect save percentage. That's why shot attempts are the best measure of how a defenceman is contributing defensively. But for the sake of argument, let's say that defencemen are able to significantly affect SV% and that therefore we should be looking at goals against rather than shots against to determine who is playing well. Let's look at the top 10 players in GA/60 Rel over the past 3 seasons (once again limiting to a minimum of 100 GP):

Player GP Rel.GA60
Marincin 150 -0.71
Millar 159 -0.69
Bellemore 113 -0.64
Niskanen 245 -0.57
Campbell 246 -0.45
Larsson 172 -0.45
Liles 179 -0.44
Gryba 185 -0.41
Gardiner 238 -0.37
Tanev 203 -0.36

Well what do you know, Jake Gardiner appears near the top of the league again. Regardless of whether you use goals or shots, Gardiner winds up looking great.
- nbboy

Problem with those stats is they are relative to his teammates. If Zaitsev is any good and if rielly continues to improve, gardiner’s relative stats could look worse next year – simply by playing the exact same way.

If Gardiner can improve his positioning in the d-zone, with his size and skating ability, I think he would be a pretty effective defensive dman.

I’ve kinda given up on him become an effective playmaker in the ozone; despite seemingly having the physical talent for it.

The case that Jake Gardiner is a valuable player defensively seems pretty strong. Not only is he among the league leaders in reducing shot attempts over the past 3 seasons in total, but he's also among the league leaders in each of those seasons individually. He is likely getting a bit of a boost by playing on some pretty bad teams, but on the whole, the evidence says that Gardiner's defensive impacts should not be overlooked.

The case that Jake Gardiner is a valuable player defensively seems pretty strong. Not only is he among the league leaders in reducing shot attempts over the past 3 seasons in total, but he's also among the league leaders in each of those seasons individually. He is likely getting a bit of a boost by playing on some pretty bad teams, but on the whole, the evidence says that Gardiner's defensive impacts should not be overlooked.
- nbboy

He's a solid mid pairing defenseman. Nothing more and nothing less IMO.

Problem with those stats is they are relative to his teammates. If Zaitsev is any good and if rielly continues to improve, gardiner’s relative stats could look worse next year – simply by playing the exact same way.

If Gardiner can improve his positioning in the d-zone, with his size and skating ability, I think he would be a pretty effective defensive dman.

I’ve kinda given up on him become an effective playmaker in the ozone; despite seemingly having the physical talent for it.
- Tumbleweed

Yeah not really into the corsi/stat stuff,just reading an article here,thought i would share.

We get it!

You love Jake Gardiner!

We get it!

You love Jake Gardiner!
- AdamFrench