It's such a shame that Nazem Kadri isn't a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs anymore.
It's been six years since Kadri played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but watching him face his former team on Monday as a member of the Calgary Flames reminded me of how much he's missed. Kadri was a bright spot on a team that consistently missed the playoffs, and was a fan-favourite.
Unfortunately for Kadri and Leafs Nation, the team moved on from him, mostly because he had back-to-back playoff suspensions. In a way, the Leafs were right to trade him because he got suspended once again the next year in Colorado, but when he was in the line-up, he registered 18 points in 15 games and helped the Avalanche win a Stanley Cup.
That's the double-edge sword with Kadri that made his situation so frustrating. When he was in the line-up, he was an incredible competitor, but his competiveness would go over the line, resulting in multiple suspensions. As much as his abilities were exactly what you wanted in the playoffs, if he's going to go too far every year and get suspended, then he's no help watching from the press box.
Although I could justify the reason why Kadri got traded, at the time, he's a player this team has desperately missed since he left.
In a given playoff series, this may sound controversial, but I would rather go to war with Kadri than Marner, for example. In 52 playoff games, Kadri has 19 goals and 44 points, while Marner has 50 points in 57 career playoff games.
As you can see, Kadri is averaging 0.88 points per game versus Marner's 0.87 points per game. Doubtless that Marner offers better defense and overall stats, but there's just something about Kadri's game I prefer.
Toronto Maple Leafs could use another Nazem Kadri
When you look at it that way and then take into consideration that Kadri makes $4M less and plays a more physical game that matches playoff hockey, it's crazy to believe that the team ultimately moved on from Kadri and then failed to adequately replace him.
I'm picking on Marner specifically for this argument, but the same logic can be applied to the Matthews, Nylander and Tavares as well. Not only does Matthews, Tavares and Nylander's points per game averages drop significantly in the playoffs, but none of them have as high of an average as Kadri.
All four of them have all played between 55-62 career playoff games, while Kadri has played 52 games, so it's not like his averages are skewed from playing way less either. We can look at the regular season numbers and continue to be in awe from what the core-four have accomplished but this team needs another Kadri.
They need a top-six winger, or multiple players, who get better in the biggest moments, and not worse, but unfortunately nothing has changed and 2025 NHL Trade Deadline was a strong example of this. They tried with the Mikko Rantanen trade attempts, but unfortunately nothing happened.
As always, we'll see what happens in the playoffs, but the Leafs need more players like Kadri and everytime I watch him play, I get disapointed that he's still not playing in Toronto.