Music: {allcanada} Short-term deal a 'home run' for Kadri, Babcock says

Monday, July 6, 2015

{allcanada} Short-term deal a 'home run' for Kadri, Babcock says

TORONTO – The upside of the one-year pact between the Toronto Maple Leafs and their soon-to-be 25-year-old centre was obvious, especially to the club's new head coach.

Mike Babcock, more than a month into his Toronto tenure, called it a "home run" agreement for Nazem Kadri.

"He gets to come in and have a heck of a year and then put the screws to us," Babcock said. "If I'm him, I'm going to have the best year of my career because I'm training the way I should and living the way I should. Why wouldn't I have a short-term deal?"

Short-term was the most logical fit for both Kadri and the Leafs.

Suspended and challenged by team president Brendan Shanahan for unspecified, unsatisfactory off-ice behaviour late last season, Kadri gets a season to assert himself as a fixture of the Leafs present and future; to demonstrate to the organization that he's worthy of a long-term investment.

He left those questions lingering in his third full NHL season. While he remained the club's top possession forward and slumped just a touch offensively at even-strength, Kadri was an inconsistent force in Toronto's lineup and his off-ice commitment seemingly left much to be desired.

Shanahan insisted that Kadri needed to grow up in late March – he was suspended for three games – hinting at a record of questionable professionalism rather than just one specific incident at the tail-end of a turbulent Leafs season.

"It's his time to respond," Shanahan said with some agitation.

The Leafs can judge that response by the commitment Kadri demonstrates in these off-season months, getting their first look at that dedication to his personal fitness at training camp. There will be an opportunity for Kadri to again trend upward on the ice, to seize a place at the forefront of Toronto's rebuild.

He'll be a restricted free agent once more next summer.

Always a somewhat sneaky productive player, Kadri should get plenty of first-rate opportunities in the upcoming season on what promises to be a mishmash Toronto roster, chalk full of stop-gaps like Shawn Matthias, who was inked to a one-year deal early Monday morning.

"I expect him to be an elite player," Babcock said, speaking at the Maple Leafs Hockey School, a clinic for kids ages 7-12. "His training has got to match his skill set. That's to all our guys. You can't take the summer off. You've got to get to work. I expect our best players to be our hardest working people and set the tone flat out. I've told them all that."

Kadri's goal and point production slipped only slightly (per 60 minutes) last season. He finished with 28 even-strength points in 73 games, down from 31 in 78 games the year prior. The biggest shift, in terms of production, was on the power play where Kadri mustered just seven points as a second-unit participant, down from the 18 he posted in 2013-14.

His opportunity with the man advantage stands to grow if (and perhaps even if not) the Leafs trade centre Tyler Bozak before camp begins in September.

Short on young, high-end offensive talents – though the organization is seeking to change that, most prominently at the draft last month – Toronto needs Kadri to succeed. There's a lot there for the club to like, but also, from all indications, much they'd like to see improved.

He's got a year now to prove that he's worthy of a deeper investment, not just on the ice obviously but off it. Doing so could result in a larger, longer-term commitment down the line, a pact the Leafs would happily agree to if Kadri met their expectations and cemented himself as a player and person they could count on.

"All I know," Babcock said, "is that when you're a player and you play well it doesn't matter how long the deal is. You're just going to get paid anyways."

Toronto would be happy to sign those cheques for the long haul. For now, they'll see how the year unfolds.