You can see it in his skating, you can see it in his shot. And you’re starting to see it in his game.

Jake Gardiner looks like he has regained his confidence.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” says Gardiner. “Playing with Newf (Dion Phaneuf) is good. He makes it easy on me.”

Gardiner has a goal and an assist in his last two games for his first two points in the young NHL season. He’s the only Leaf blueliner with a goal.

Both points came on slapshots. One on Friday beat Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The other on Saturday was deflected by Leo Komarov to beat Marc-Andre Fleury for the Leafs’ only goal against Pittsburgh in a loss.

“He’s been able to unload,” said defenceman Matt Hunwick. He has a good shot. He’s obviously a strong offensive player. We need that offence from the back end if we’re going to move forward.

“Everything is a work in progress. You’re building your confidence, you’re trying to gain the coach’s trust and gain confidence in your game.”

The Leafs took Sunday off and will be back skating Monday in preparation for Wednesday’s game in Buffalo against the Sabres.

Gardiner has had an up-and-down career in his time with the Maple Leafs. Under Ron Wilson, he was impressive. Under Randy Carlyle, he regressed. He seemed nervous with the puck, unsure of what to do.

Mike Babcock understands Gardiner’s talent level — that the ceiling is high — and is trying to harness it with positive feedback. Just like he’s been with Nazem Kadri, Babcock is ever-encouraging.

“It feels good to score,” said Gardiner. “Just keep shooting the puck. Hopefully they keep going in.”

Part of Babcock’s challenge is to find lines and defensive pairs that work. Part of it is to make sure players play to their strengths whenever possible and keep their weaknesses hidden.

Gardiner started out the year with Morgan Rielly, but the two have been split up and some patterns are emerging.

Rielly is on his way to becoming the team’s No. 1 defenceman, with Hunwick at his side. Those two drew the Sidney Crosby-Phil Kessel line on Saturday. Rielly leads Leafs defencemen in time on ice per game (21:59), boosted by his time killing penalties (3:02). Phaneuf is second among defencemen in average time on ice (21:43) and tops in power play minutes (2:11).

Babcock is doing what he can to protect Gardiner’s minutes. He gets very little penalty killing time (0:25) and sits behind both Phaneuf and Rielly in power play time (1:08).

But 5-on-5 is perhaps Gardiner’s true strength and he is the team leader in average time played at 18:21.

And as the team’s analytics department has surely informed Babcock, Gardiner’s 5-on-5 numbers are terrific. When he’s on the ice, more than 60 per cent of the shots attempted are off Leaf sticks. Even last year, when the entire team seemed to spend the game in its own zone, it wasn’t the case when Gardiner was on the ice. He (along with Kadri) had the best possession numbers among the regulars.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“We need Jake to be a real important player for us,” said Babcock. “Obviously, we’re getting good minutes out of Hunwick and Rielly. We need Jake to be a real important puck-mover for us.”

These days, Gardiner seems happy and a little more at-ease. But he understands that he, like the rest of the team, has a long way to go.

“We’re still learning the system and getting some details worked out,” he said.

Read more about: