Evan Gardner

2023-24 Team: Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
Date of Birth: Jan. 25, 2006
Place of Birth: Fort St. John, BC
Ht: 6-foot-2 Wt: 174 pounds
Catches: Left
Position: Goaltender
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2024 first-year eligible

Rankings

NHL Central Scouting: 7^th (among NA goalies)
Future Considerations: 87^th
Recruit Scouting: 120^th

When Evan Gardner started the 2023-24 season, he was expected to be a solid backup to the Saskatoon Blades’ starter Austin Elliott, who finished his first full season in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with a .911 save percentage (SV%) over 37 starts. However, that didn’t last long, as the 18-year-old Gardner quickly stole the spotlight. While Elliott struggled with consistency, Gardner was one of the most reliable backups in the league; from September to the middle of November, he made just nine appearances in the net but recorded a .918 SV%. Over the same frame, Elliott had 17 appearances and a .907 SV%. By December, the pair of goalies were sharing starts, with the younger Gardner outperforming his partner night in and night out.

Gardner’s performance started to catch plenty of attention. Head coach Brennan Sonne was quoted as saying, “When a player has 13,14, 15 games in a row where their save percentage is over .900, it’s really hard to ignore that. It’s hard to ignore his goals against versus chance against ratio, which was extremely high- some of the highest numbers I’ve ever seen.” As for the NHL Draft, he went from a possible late-round pick to the seventh-best goalie in North America, surpassing Team Canada standouts Ryerson Leenders and Samuel St-Hilaire. In the playoffs, Gardner finally took over as the Blades’ starter and propelled the team to the Eastern Conference Final, where they fell to the dominant Moose Jaw Warriors in seven games.

Evan Gardner Saskatoon Blades — Evan Gardner, Saskatoon Blades (Photo Credit: Rick Elvin)

But Gardner is far from just the beneficiary of a strong team in front of him. He’s very mobile in the crease, making quick adjustments to put himself in the best position possible to stop the puck. He bounces between the posts but always remains in position to make a snappy pad save. Being a comparatively-smaller goalie, he relies heavily on his higher-end awareness and intelligence, cutting off angles with his stance and placement in the net rather than challenging the shooter by floating beyond the blue paint.

There are times where Gardner suffers from trying to adjust too much — a common issue in young goalies — and more experience and confidence will certainly iron that out. His initial tracking is great, he locks into position to prepare for the oncoming shooter, and he frequently makes the save on the first shot, but his rebound control needs some work. It’s almost as if he’s too locked into his first position and struggles to recover to make the secondary save. Again, this is likely a consequence of playing most of the season in a backup role, and with more games under his belt, those issues won’t be as prominent.

Related: THW’s 2024 NHL Draft Guide

Next season promises to be a big one for Gardner, as the Blades will lose several key members from their first-place regular-season squad. But, as the team’s uncontested starter, he’ll have every opportunity to flex his high-end abilities and could very well propel Saskatoon back for another deep playoff run.

Other Draft Profiles

Evan Gardner – NHL Draft Projection

At 6-foot-2, Gardner doesn’t have the size that a lot of NHL teams look for in a starting goalie, which will impact where he ends up getting selected. He will almost certainly be taken after 6-foot-6 Marcus Gidlöf, 6-foot-5 Mikhail Yegorov, and 6-foot-4 Kim Saarinen, despite having comparable or better stats and athleticism. But his ability to come in and stabilize a shaky Blades’ crease will put him on more than a few radars on day two. At the earliest, he’ll be a third-round pick and shouldn’t drop further than the fifth.

Quotables

“Gardner is calm between the pipes, moving side to side efficiently, can take away space in the blink of an eye and never looks uncomfortable, especially for a goalie in his first WHL season…He plays beyond his years with situational awareness and control in the blue paint. He positions himself wisely and uses his big build in the butterfly. It is hard to beat him in close or from a distance. He tracks the puck well when moving latterly. He is rarely beaten over the shoulder while taking away the top half of the net efficiently. He uses the overlap technique, something more goalies have done to prevent being beaten short side or while hugging the post.” – Dylan Robillard, Flyers Nitty Gritty

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“Evan Gardner, the goaltender for the Saskatoon Blades, exhibits a predominantly shallow positioning style, rarely drifting far outside the crease. Standing at 6-foot-2, Gardner effectively squares up to shots, leveraging his good side-to-side movement to face them directly. However, he struggles with rebound control, particularly off his glove, which often results in additional scoring opportunities for opponents. While he employs the Reverse-VH (RVH) technique for post protection, Gardner inconsistently uses it against rush plays, leading to vulnerabilities, especially with low-danger five-hole shots. Additionally, his difficulties with trapping pucks using his glove contribute to his rebound control issues. Despite these challenges, Gardner’s solid positional play and lateral quickness remain key strengths in his goaltending repertoire.” – Josh Tessler, SMAHT Scouting

“Gardner was excellent for Saskatoon as a WHL rookie coming out of midget hockey. He put up big numbers albeit not in a legit starting role. Gardner is a super smart goaltender. He is very efficient, calm and squares up a ton of pucks. He anticipates the opponents’ moves and passes very well. He has good enough quickness to make tough saves, although he doesn’t have the quick twitch lower half you’d like to see in a smaller goalie.” – Corey Pronman, The Athletic (from ‘NHL Draft 2024 rankings: Macklin Celebrini leads Corey Pronman’s top 129 prospects,’ The Athletic – 28/05/2024)

Strengths

Technically sound; doesn’t get pushed out of position
Strong lateral movement, good puck tracking
Upright stance while in the butterfly covers the net well

Under Construction – Improvements to Make

Weaker blocker side
Rebound control and making secondary saves
Can adjust too much in the net

NHL Potential

It’s not unreasonable to think Gardner could become an NHL starter in the future. He may not have the ideal size, but he’s by no means small and he has demonstrated great technique and athleticism during his WHL rookie season. The one area that might hold him back is that, after making a strong initial save, he will be forced to make an acrobatic recovery to pick up the loose rebound. That could be attributed to mere immaturity, a lack of awareness, or a bit of both. He’s a riskier selection, but with so many promising skills, he’s worth a mid-to-late-round pick-up.

Risk – Reward Analysis

Risk- 4/5, Reward 4/5

Awards/Achievements

2023-24 – WHL Rookie of the Year, East Division
2023-24 – WHL Humanitarian of the Year, East Division
2023-24 – WHL Highest Save Percentage
2023-24 – WHL Lowest Goals-against Average
WHL Goalie of the Month, March 2024

Evan Gardner – 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Profile