Kadri suspension another hit to Maple Leafs’ depth

Strength down the middle weakened by three-game ban

BUFFALO, N.Y. Until recently, the top-line centre had spent his entire career on the wing. The second-line centre began the season on the fourth line, while the third-line centre was unemployed a week ago. The fourth line, meanwhile, does not even have a centre.

Welcome to Toronto, where the top three centres are either injured or suspended and anyone who has taken a faceoff in the last five years is being auditioned for a starring role down the middle.

“Don’t ask me,” said Maple Leafs winger Mason Raymond, who played a bit of centre during his time with the Vancouver Canucks. “That’s not really my position.”

Head coach Randy Carlyle often says he does not like to use injuries as an excuse. But with a hamstring injury to Tyler Bozak, with Dave Bolland’s severed ankle tendon and, now, with Nazem Kadri’s three-game suspension — announced Thursday afternoon by league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan — even the most optimistic fan has to admit that these are challenging days.

“It’s not ideal,” said former fourth-line centre Jay McClement, who replaced Kadri on the second line Thursday with Joffrey Lupul and David Clarkson. “The rest of us are going to have to hold the fort … everyone is going to have to step up with some big pieces to our team missing.”

Kadri will miss the next three games for bowling over Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom in a 2-1 overtime shootout loss Wednesday night. Kadri’s elbow appeared to make contact with Backstrom’s head and the goaltender left the game minutes later. Kadri was ejected from the game in the third period after catching Wild forward Mikael Granlund with his head down. That hit, which Carlyle believed was clean, was not reviewed by NHL officials.

“The league has a criteria that they uphold in these situations and sometimes they go in your favour and sometimes they don’t,” Carlyle said before the suspension was announced.