The Columbus Blue Jackets locked up an important prospect on Tuesday, signing goaltender Evan Gardner to a three-year entry level contract. He could be the eventual answer to their question in goal.
The Jackets selected Gardner in the second round (#60 overall) last summer, trading third (#69) and fifth (#133) round picks to Carolina to make sure they secured him. We were fans of the pick at the time, because the Blue Jackets needed to start building up the position. Nine months later, and I'm an even bigger fan.
Gardner was named WHL Goaltender of the Week yesterday, after going 3-0-0 last week with a .964% save percentage, 1.00 goals against average and 2 shutouts. It was an impressive stretch of play from a guy who has been pretty solid for the Saskatoon Blades all season long.
Through 41 games played, he has a 22-12-4 record. He's tied for 4th with a .911% save percentage, tied for 7th in GAA (2.83), and 4th in shutouts (3). After starting last season as the team's backup, he'd stolen the starting job by season's end - and now, he's backstopping his team into the playoffs.
Gardfather said, "None of that"@BlueJacketsNHL pic.twitter.com/tFnM4EYxUU
— x - Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) January 4, 2025
We're fans, but how good of a prospect is he?
Suffice to say, goaltenders are a bit of a crapshoot. I've been around the amateur scouting game for a long time, and I can attest that scouting goaltenders is not an exact science. You can see a guy with all the athleticism, or the great positioning, or whatever trait stands out; only to watch them struggle with it at the next level. From a deeper point of view, just look at the comp shared by our own Mike Stump; and you can see how developing goalies can rate in the advanced metrics world:
Gardner is the best Goalie prospect the #CBJ have had since Tarasov (who projected as a long-term starter in the NHL, this is an inexact science). You gotta love the more-than-stellar results he’s been showing in the WHL. pic.twitter.com/MRTz4giq8q
— Mike Stump (@Mr_UnionBlue) March 18, 2025
Man, if only he could be as good as that guy...
The reality of drafting and developing goaltenders is that, well, you have to develop them. And, in this position more than any other, there is a huge mental factor that needs to go into the evaluations. This is often what separates good backstops from great backstops: their ability to shake it off and make the next save.
In the case of Evan Gardner's mental makeup, we'll have to wait and see. But, out of all of the prospects in the system, I would argue that he has the highest upside. Part of this is due to the fact that the other two notable prospects in the system (Jet Greaves and Sergei Ivanov) are both sub-6-foot guys. We can't overlook Melvin Stahl here, who has the size; but I think he is more of a project.
If you wanted to say that size isn't as important as it used to be, I'm not sure I could fully disagree. But, at this position, I think I'm well placed to argue that it matters more than ever. Look no further than the face that there's just one full-time starting goaltender in the NHL who is under 6'0": Nashville's Juuse Saros.
Gardner has the size advantage, but he also has much more than that. He's got great athleticism, reflexes; and a high compete level, which really stands out when he works to make highlight reel saves:
The kind of saves @BlueJacketsNHL fans can come to expect pic.twitter.com/mva8yf8mMZ
— x - Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) March 18, 2025
With his ELC in hand, Gardner is almost certain to return to Saskatoon for his 19 year old season next year. After that, I think we'll see him in Cleveland for more development with the Monsters. Hopefully, he can keep his upward trend and we'll see him in the crease in Columbus in the not so distant future.