Gardiner signed a four-year, $16.2 million contract with the Hurricanes on Friday.
EDGE Analysis
It's surprising that it took Gardiner this long to find a new home, as he's emerged as a highly-effective scoring threat from the blue line over the past three seasons, racking up 17 goals and 125 points in 226 games over that span, but it's possible that he was holding out hope that Toronto would be able to re-sign him after sorting out the Marner contract situation. However, with training camp just a week away, Marner remains unsigned, so Gardiner likely decided that he couldn't afford to remain patient any longer. The 29-year-old Minnesota native will likely slot into a middle-pairing role for Carolina this campaign and will also get a long look on the team's top power-play unit. If he's able to remain healthy, he shouldn't have any trouble eclipsing the 40-point mark for the third time in four seasons in 2019-20.