Gardiner recorded his third assist in four games during Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Devils.

EDGE Analysis

Don't look now, but the former Maple Leaf may finally be rediscovering his game with his new team. Following a quiet start to the season, including a six-game scoring drought, Gardiner has suddenly become a steady offensive contributor for the Canes. Playing on the team's second defensive pairing with the stay-at-home Brett Pesce, he will be given a bit more freedom to wheel-and-deal, especially on the power play, where he's been seeing a decent amount of minutes lately (1:57 average TOI).

Gardiner has a goal and an assist in eight games this season, playing primarily on the third defensive pairing.

EDGE Analysis

Gardiner was a top-four defender for the Maple Leafs during his last few seasons in Toronto, regularly averaging 21-22 minutes per game, but so far with the Canes he's seeing a significantly reduced role, averaging just 17:40 of ice time. However, he does still see a good chunk of time on the power play -- about 2:11 per game. For the time being, the Canes will be counting on him to play more of a solid defensive game rather than jumping into the rush, and that does not bode well for his fantasy value.

Gardiner (undisclosed) is "feeling good" ahead of Thursday's regular-season opener against the Canadiens.

EDGE Analysis

Gardiner was held out of practice Friday due to a minor issue, but he was never believed to be in serious danger of missing Thursday's tilt. The former Maple Leaf is expected to skate on the Hurricanes' bottom pairing and No. 1 power-play unit against Montreal.

Gardiner (undisclosed) didn't skate Friday, Michael Smith of the Hurricanes' official site reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Hurricanes have kept Gardiner off the ice for the past few days in an effort to ensure he's 100 percent healthy for their regular-season opener. The former Maple Leaf likely won't play in either of the team's two remaining preseason contests, but there's no reason to believe that he's in any danger of missing Carolina's Opening Night matchup with Montreal at this point.

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.

Gardiner (back) is healthy heading into free agency, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

EDGE Analysis

Gardiner played in the first round in obvious pain, but avoided surgery and LeBrun revealed Tuesday that the defender's MRI has now come back clean. There are rumors of where Gardiner will land in free agency and he might even re-sign in Toronto. But the latter isn't possible until Mitch Marner's extension is signed. Regardless of where he lands, Gardiner will remain a top-four, puck-moving defender with very good fantasy value.

Gardiner dished out an even-strength assist and had three hits and four blocks in Sunday's 4-2 loss to Boston.

EDGE Analysis

Gardiner was able to collect his second point of the series, and saw 15:47 of ice time in the game. The fact that the Minnesota native saw 1:13 of power-play ice time in the game would likely add to his fantasy value going forward. With Game 7 approaching Tuesday, the team will need Gardiner to keep up with his 10-hit, nine-block shot series performance thus far.

Gardiner (back) played 16:51 Thursday in a 3-1 loss to the Lightning in his return from injury.

EDGE Analysis

Gardiner's confidence grew as the game wore on. His timing was a bit off, but thankfully he has another game to settle things before the playoffs begin. Gardiner played 1:32 on the power play and while he didn't pick up a point, he blocked one shot and laid one hit. The Leafs are considerably better with him in the lineup and his absence may have actually increased his offseason free agent value. For now, Gardiner will play Saturday to get his timing better and then work to atone for a bad Game 7 against the Bruins in last year's playoffs.

Gardiner (back) will return to action Thursday against the Lightning, Paul Hendrick of the Maple Leafs' official site reports.

EDGE Analysis

After missing the last 18 games, Gardiner reportedly will accompany Nikita Zaitsev to form the second defensive pair. Gardiner has benefited greatly from the team's strong two-way play overall -- as evidenced by his plus-17 rating -- though he's 23 points short of his 2017-18 output since injuries have limited him to 60 games with just two more to play in the regular season.

Head coach Mike Babcock hopes that Gardiner (back) will play two games before the end of the regular season, Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports.

EDGE Analysis

This would mean that Toronto is hoping Gardiner will return for Thursday's game against Tampa Bay and would likely dress seven defensemen. The Minnesota native hasn't played since Feb. 25, but returned to skating March 22 and practiced in a non-contact jersey March 25. Regardless, Toronto undoubtedly is hoping for Gardiner to return for the playoffs.