Jake Gardiner: Should he stay or should he go?

Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images The Hurricanes face a number of key decisions this offseason. Do they re-sign Dougie Hamilton? What does Andrei Svechnikov’s second contract look like? Who’s going to be Alex Nedeljkovic’s goalie partner? What do they need - and what can they afford - to add to this group?

There’s another, less discussed decision that they need to make. And it’s one that will likely impact at least some of the ones listed above, particularly the first and last ones: What do they do with Jake Gardiner?

Since signing a four-year, $4.05 million AAV contract shortly before the start of the 2019-20 season, Gardiner’s Hurricanes tenure has been a bit of a roller…