Leafs’ Kadri centred on bigger picture
Accepts line demotion with Tavares on team
Nazem Kadri, for several years, has envisioned himself as a first-line centre in the National Hockey League.
Funny what can happen when a club, in this case the Toronto Maple Leafs, has not only restored respectability to the franchise but has worked diligently to become closer to being a legitimate and consistent Stanley Cup contender.
Kadri, the longest-serving current Leaf, will be Toronto’s third-line centre when the 2018-19 season starts, behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
Never mind that Kadri is coming off back-to-back 32-goal seasons.
“You know what, winning is the most important to me,” Kadri said on Wednesday before teeing off at Glen Abbey at the NHL Players’ Association’s annual charity golf tournament.
“And I know that is maybe a cliché for you guys, but that is the honest truth. I don’t care where I play. I don’t care what role I play. Obviously, I want to be an impact player and I want to continue to have the success I’ve been having, and I think players ahead of me will give me the chance to do that.
“It’s not really a one-twothree type thing. We’re all going to play together and have that success. Our ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup and bring that to the city of Toronto, so we’re all going be on the same page.”
Above all else, Kadri is stoked that Tavares, an old pal and former London Knights teammate, is going to be wearing blue and white for the next seven seasons.
Kadri was optimistic about the future when the Leafs cleaned out their lockers in April after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins. How much did that optimism take a jump when Tavares was signed?
“Big-time,” Kadri said. “I was thrilled. I was so happy to have a teammate like that. He is such a great guy and such a genuine person (and) good to have in the locker room. It’s nice to reconnect.”
Kadri said he wasn’t “so sure” that another team has a deeper trio of centres. And he is positive about another factor regarding Tavares.
“I don’t think a player like him would have wanted to sign in Toronto eight, nine years ago,” Kadri said. “That’s the culture we have been trying to rebuild, is trying to acquire those free agents and try to make Toronto a destination where players want to come and win. Johnny realized something special we had here and I think he made the right choice.”
Tavares — who was at the MasterCard Centre on Wednesday morning, taking part in skating drills — penned an emotional goodbye to New York Islanders fans in an essay that was published by The Players’ Tribune.
Tavares spoke of his “real, honest, still-there love” for the Islanders and made it clear how difficult his decision was to leave for the Leafs in free agency. The underlying reason was a good one: Tavares later wrote the Leafs “weren’t just my first hockey love. They were basically my first human memory.”
There was no decision, Tavares stressed, until after the meetings with several teams in Los Angeles in June.
“I thought about how the Leafs have a strong, young core that has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time,” Tavares wrote, “and how they have been able to establish themselves as a real contender.”
The piece ran to approximately 4,000 words.
Tavares ended it by apologizing to the Isles fans that as captain, he was unable to lead the club to a Cup, and thanking them “for everything.”
James van Riemsdyk, also playing in the NHLPA golf tournament, has not fully moved on from Toronto after signing with the Philadelphia Flyers — and it doesn’t sound like he will soon.
“Over the last few weeks, it has been emotional,” van Riemsdyk said. “I was very invested in being a Maple Leaf and trying to put my best foot forward every day and wanting to be part of a winning organization here in Toronto.
“I definitely think I can take some pride in going through some ups and downs and I guess be happy to leave it better than when you came in.”
Though there were indications through the season, and before, that the Leafs would not re-sign van Riemsdyk, the goal-scoring winger said it became official midway through June.
“They were actually good enough to tell me a few weeks before free agency that they were going to go in a different direction,” van Riemsdyk said. “It allows you to fully clear your head before you have to make a really big decision. I appreciated the fact they did that. I have nothing but good things to say about the city, about the fans, about the organization.”