I’m not sure why Gardiner would want to come back, regardless. He’s been underrated by his own fanbase for years, de-prioritized as a core asset by management, and now he’s even booed by his home crowd. Unless the Leafs can somehow dump Zaitsev and Marleau there was never any chance Gardiner would come back. He’ll get close to $6M x 5 years from some other team and then get booed maniacally whenever he plays in Toronto.