Like Duke Silver says, why only look at part of the equation?
Let's take a look at how the situation might look at with Gardiner and, say, Roman Polak. Situation starts with Crosby having the puck.
Polak is not as good as Gardiner at defending the blue line. So with him, Crosby would gain entrance to our zone more often. There Polak does a better job of containing Crosby. He might even get the puck, but since he's awful at transition the Pens just end up getting it back. Crosby gets a new chance. Perhaps Polak can manage that as well, but the third time its a fresh Malkin coming at him.
With Gardiner we have a bigger chance of preventing having to play defense, as he is better at defending the blue line. He might not be as good while the opponents are in the zone, but once we gain possession the puck is up the ice and all that time that Polak spent defending again and again, is now spent in the offensive zone.
Besides, while Gardiner certainly has deficiencies defensively, so does pretty much every other D-man we have. Rielly is worse positionally, at gap control and one-on-one. Polak and Phaneuf has awful stick positioning, never takes away options. Robidas can't handle strong forwards, he ends up on his butt.
For some reason, not being good at winning board battles is seen as incredibly much worse for defense than stick positioning, gap control, mobility. Yet I'm pretty sure those things are just as important.
Statistics show us a more inside look into things, but it's how people interpret them
all and not just the ones that prove an agenda. I think what some are saying is "ok, Jake moves well and controls the puck, but to say he is a good/great defender is a stretch" more or less. And yes, some are claiming he is a very good defender and using advanced stats to show it, but leave out other parts that show negatives in his game.
5on5, No doubt Jake prefers to carry the puck and drives play forward, but the stats also show that it doesn't amount to much. I know many say this is a garbage stat, but +/- when taken into context does help tell a story as well. Jake had the worst +/- among all our defencemen. Say what you will, but it means for all the time he possess the puck, protects the blueline, drives play etc, he still allows more goals against then he helps produce than any other d-man on the team.
QOC is also important even though some shrug it off and claim there is barely a difference. No way to know it has little difference since Dion plays against top competition (1st,2nd line) mostly and Jake plays against secondary competition(2nd,3rd line)mostly. So, it only goes to reason he will have an easier time suppressing shots, defending the blueline etc. It doesn't mean if they switch competition, Jake would do just or almost as well. It would also account for the fact that when Jake is on the ice Save% higher and shots against is lower than when Dion or Cody were on the ice because the first pair played against guys who shoot more and put up more points.
Jake had the most takeaways, but also the least blocked shots, one of the fewer hits and most giveaways by far. Yes, Jake has an active stick and gets possession this way, but he also gives it back at a higher rate than the others(double the giveaways of Polak). His lack of willingness to either block shots or make contact creates a relatively easy night physically on the opposing players. Physical contact wears the opposing player down over a game and tires them out. Jake tires no one out. Now if he produced points and help create offence, then that will help, but he doesn't, even though his QOC is lower than what Dion or Franson saw. Against lower QOC, with his skills, he should be creating more offence.
Jake also has the highest ratio of OZsarts to DZzone starts. Again, giving him the advantage to be able to create more offence and keep his shots against totals down. Here is where +/- comes into context again. He has the worst +/-, but starts more shifts than anyone else in the offensive zone and less than anyone else in the defensive zone. Considering Carlyle was a line match coach and we know Jake saw very little of the Crosby's, Ovi's etc in comparisson, it shows he doesn't help create offence against secondary players and is outscored by them. It wasn't because he got bad goaltending, he got better SV% than Dion, Franson, Polak and the same as Rielly. So, good shot suppression, good Shots against stats, good SV%, but horrible +/- and lower QOC.
Jake also plays easier minutes as he plays little PK compared to Dion, Polak, Franson, but gets 2nd PP duties, the easier minutes. PK duties wears on players huge. They are the toughest, most tiring minutes you can play. He should have the energy to be tougher to play against, but he prefers to use that energy to carry the puck, which unfortunately the stats show creates very little offence.
I am not trying to knock Jake, but stats do not prove he is a good/great defender when everything is taken into context. He does what most see. He skates well, keeps possession well, but leaves us wanting more offensively. He does not outscore his defensive deficiencies and is fairly soft to play against. He does give the puck away, but is good at finessing the puck off of the opposition and recovering.
