Five games into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs already boast the best scoring lineups in the league by a mile.
It seems to have been a scoring barrage for just about everyone on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster since the 2018-19 season got underway. In just over a week of hockey action, the Leafs are leading the league in goals with 25 so far, more than 5 NHL teams combined.
There are also a few players on the team that are already leading the league in scoring at a ridiculous rate. Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares are all in the top 4 above every other player as well as the only ones to be in double digits.
One player who has yet to join the offensive barrage party is the Leafs third line centre in Nazem Kadri. While has put points on the board at the time of writing this article, he has yet to score his first goal of the season.
When you look at the numbers, you have yourself a player who has gotten snakebitten many times over despite getting so many great chances.
Strong Underlying Numbers
As mentioned earlier, Kadri has produced offensively, but all of it so far has come in the form of assists.
Kadri has recorded 4 assists so far this season, two of which he was registered on the score sheet as the primary assist. He also has registered 0.80 PPG (roughly 66 points in a full season), has been on the ice for 8 goals for, a 0.21 GC, and is currently on pace to record 62 assists.
Additionally, he has a 61.54% Corsi-for, has outshot and out-chanced the opposition by 53.75% and 67.82% respectively, a 74.29 HDCF%, and a 1.051 PDO which the second best of his NHL career.
So what do all of these numbers mean?
They mean that goals are a bad way to judge a players performance. Especially four games into the season. Kadri has played great, despite the adjustment to his ice time necessitated by the addition of Tavares to the roster.
Kadri’s lack of goals are not from bad play, but from bad luck. It happens. The other factor, perhaps the biggest one, is his linemates.
Kadri has played almost all of his 5v5 minutes with Connor Brown, and split the rest between Lindholm and Leivo. Combined they have one empty net goal, and zero assists between them.
Nothing has a bigger impact on a player’s stats than who he plays with, and Kadri has been saddled with fourth liners for the entire season. The times his line has looked good have been almost exclusively because of him.
Once Nylander gets back, or once Johnsson works his way into the lineup, Kadri should have some players with actual offensive talent on his line and you can expect him to score at his usual rate once that happens.
Closing thoughts
It’s obvious that Kadri is playing well and that the zero in the goals column is not a result of poor play. He has done a great job both controlling the play, generating chances for him and his linemates, and has been on the ice for more goals for than against.
Watching him shows he is doing all the right things to get his first of the season and came close on a few occasions. Unfortunately for him, he’s had bad luck and bad linemates.
Should Kadri keep up his strong play from the start of the season, the question will no longer be if he can score, but when.
All stats unless otherwise noted are from Natural Stat Trick and Hockey Reference.