The Toronto Maple Leafs are in desperate need of another center, and according to former NHL GM Doug Maclean, they have their eyes on one. He took part in his weekly segment, “Off the Rails Friday with Doug MacLean,” on the Real Kyper and Bourne show on the Fan590 and shared some insider information.
Maclean said “I heard today that they are kicking tires there.”
McLean also mentioned his reasoning behind why it would be worth it for the Maple Leafs.
“They’ve gotta get [Nazem] Kadri. They’ve gotta go get him. If you’re going to play against teams in the playoffs like the Florida Panthers, the Carolina Hurricanes, the New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers, they need a [Nazem] Kadri.”
Maple Leafs “Kicking Tires” on Kadri
If this is the case, the Maple Leafs have targeted their new center that would slide on to the third line and be exactly what the team needs. Nazem Kadri was one of the players that Kyle Dubas and his regime traded away, which left Leafs Nation shocked and upset. Yes, he may have done some questionable things during his time with the Maple Leafs, but he was a fan favourite of so many because of how he played night in and night out.
The Maple Leafs have two major challenges ahead of them when it comes to trading with the Calgary Flames. The first one is that Brad Treliving is the former GM of the Flames organization and was the one responsible for bringing Kadri to the team. That could cause a bit of tension when Treliving attempts to trade for his former team. Secondly, the Maple Leafs will need to be strategic when it comes to acquiring Kadri due to their lack of draft capital and cap space.
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The Maple Leafs would likely need to give up a bit more to convince the Flames to retain half of Kadri’s $7.0 million average annual value (AAV). The challenge for Calgary is that the contract still has four years remaining on his deal, which may mean that Toronto would need to consider taking either the entire contract or at least 85% ($5.95 million) of it per season. If that happens, they need to part with David Kampf and Connor Dewar, which would make up $3.58 million. Treliving and the Maple Leafs may also benefit from putting Nick Robertson in the deal, which would bring the cap space going to Calgary $4.5 million. Plus, they have Calle Jarnkrok and Max Pacioretty’s $2.9 million on LTIR, which they can use as open space, which brings their available cap space to $7.4 million. Obviously, this deal would also need to include a draft pick, like the 2025 second-round pick that belongs to the Florida Panthers and potentially a later round pick such as a 2026 fifth round pick.
Full Kadri Trade Breakdown:
Toronto Maple Leafs: Nazem Kadri (15% retained)
Calgary Flames: David Kampf, Connor Dewar, Nick Robertson, 2025 second round pick (Florida Panthers) & 2026 fifth round pick
The trade between the two teams would work from a cap space point of view. It is incredibly tough to predict NHL trades since no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors, nor do we know the true value of NHL players. However, this deal would allow the Flames to move out their second-largest contract on the books while taking getting two penalty kill specialists in Kampf and Dewar and also getting a young, talented forward in Robertson, who could reach his potential within the Flames organization. Additionally, they will also acquire another two draft picks that they can use to draft players that can be a big piece of their future.
As for the Leafs, they would need to send down Philippe Myers, Alex Steeves, and either Fraser Minten or Nikita Grebenkin, they will be above the cap by $785,333. They would be able to carry 12 forwards and can call up a forward who makes less than $785,333 like Alex Nylander, seven defensemen, and two goalies, with Jarnkrok and Pacioretty on LTIR until further notice.
Some may argue that he shouldn’t have ever left, but no one can redo the past, but if Treliving has it his way, he will bring Kadri back to where he shouldn’t have left, the place he called home for 10 seasons: Toronto.
