Jake Gardiner has been quite the hot topic this week in Leafs nation. After getting booed by fans on home ice Monday night, we saw him suffer a similar fate in Tampa Bay early in the first period. This is a truly bizarre situation. Clearly, he’s a polarizing player; some fans want him shipped out of town before the trade deadline, while others insist that he’s a top pairing quality defenceman.



So… what exactly is Jake Gardiner?



Let’s start with the basics. All you need to do is watch him play a few games and you can easily see that he’s a high-risk, high-reward type of defenceman. He likes to hold on to the puck and sling long-bomb stretch passes up the ice, which is something I’ve written about in detail.



Even though there’s been frustration among the fanbase with the team’s over-reliance on these types of passes, it must be noted that Gardiner is one of the best in the league at making them. Much like a deep...