There had been plenty of action during the current offseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have had a huge makeover of their coaching staff, made multiple free agent signings to bolster their roster, and re-signied some key members of the team from last season.
However, what seems to be still missing for the Toronto Maple Leafs is that huge wow factor that could boost the entire team’s morale. Something big enough such that they truly believe that the coming year will be the year they can get it done.
The best way to accomplish that is to make a daring trade that could significantly improve the Maple Leafs chances of being successful in 2024-25.
The trade that the Leafs should do to put them over the top is to bring home once-upon-a-time fan favourite Nazem Kadri.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Make a Big Trade to Bring Home a Fan Favourite
With the current makeup of the Maple Leafs lineup, they are severely lacking a dominant third-line center, assuming Max Domi will be used once again on the wing for the upcoming season.
Who better to recruit to the team than the one that actually had been through it all during the team’s ups and downs for ten seasons between 2010-2019. After all, Kadri was fantastic in the 3C role during his final years with the club prior to his departure.
As a Leaf, Kadri played the pesky role of getting into the opponent’s faces on a nightly basis while putting up strong offensive numbers at the same time. In 561 career regular season games with Toronto, he registered 161 goals and 196 assists for 357 total points, ranking him 30th on the Maple Leafs all-time scoring list. On top of that, he was also a force on the power play, with 99 career points with the man advantage in a Leafs uniform.
In fact, he would have been probably still a Maple Leaf if it hadn’t been for his inability to control his emotions during the playoffs that resulted in suspensions in consecutive seasons.
But why not give Kadri a second chance with the team?
Especially after seeing him play some of his best hockey with the Colorado Avalanche and how effective he was during the playoffs when he kept his emotions in check.
In 33 playoff games with the Avalanche, Kadri scored 16 goals and added 18 assists for a whopping 34 points. More significantly, he helped Colorado bring home the Cup in 2022. With his maturity in his game and now extensive playoff experience, wouldn’t he look good back in a Leafs uniform scoring at a point-a-game pace in the playoffs?
Added to the fact that he was just coming off a 29-goal, 75-point year with the Calgary Flames last season, he certainly showed that he still has lots of game left in him even entering his mid-30s.
More importantly, Kadri recently expressed that he would be willing to waive his current no-movement clause for “the right situation”. As suggested by insider David Pagnotta of Hello Hockey, that situation could involve moving “a little closer to home” for the London, Ontario native.
So a little closer to home sounds exactly like an invitation for the Maple Leafs to take action. But for it to come to fruition, it would require some nifty maneuvering on the Leafs end. (All stats fromhockey-reference.comand cap space frompuckpedia.com)
They currently have just a little over $1.2 million of cap space left, with Kadri having an annual cap hit of $7 million. If it involves moving out a regular, along with a prospect and/or draft pick or two for salary retention to make it happen, so be it.
The Leafs should be Cup or bust this season, so getting Kadri back would be the potential key to success.