Free Agency Target: Jake Gardiner’s defensive issues might be overblown

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images“Gardiner was a dash-five. He had two giveaways. He fumbled the puck frequently and compounded his poor decisions. His passes refused to stretch, and when they did, it was for icings. When Babcock tapped No. 51 on the shoulder, 61 per cent of the shot attempts were being blasted at the visitors’ end.”

“His giveaway in Game 7 will be the moment that stands out for most. And really, that Gardiner’s gaffe —an attempt at a reverse behind his net that turned into a Bruins goal— led to the game-winner was basically cruel poetry.”

This is the Jake Gardiner that exists in the minds of many, an offensively gifted but defensively questionable rearguard who can’t…