Gardiner is 30 years old and has seven assists in 17 games so far this season. He has two more years remaining on his contract, which carries a $4.05 million AAV and only expires in 2023.
Gardiner has had some injury trouble this season as well and if he isn’t claimed, Carolina can assign him to the taxi squad for a bit of extra cap space. That said, this move likely comes in part as a result of Jake Bean’s jump to the main roster and the team’s crowded defense group.
Personally, I’d probably prefer Gardiner in the lineup over Brady Skjei, based on their respective performances this year. Regardless though, if someone claimed Gardiner, it would provide the Hurricanes with some much-needed cap space to potentially make a move at the deadline.
I think it’s a possibility we see Gardiner get claimed. While he hasn’t been great with the Hurricanes since signing with the team in 2019, I actually don’t think his cap hit is completely unreasonable and perhaps someone will take a chance on him to add some offense to their blue line.
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Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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