Kadri turning over a new leaf in T.O.
Veteran centre is adjusting to new linemates
TORONTO — Over time, Nazem Kadri seems to have morphed into a Toronto Maple Leaf institution.
He has more Twitter followers than any other Maple Leaf. His cat, @JazzyKadri, has an Instagram following. A fan recently named her baby boy “Kadri.”
“That’s surreal,” said Kadri. “I love the name for a first name. I’m privileged and honoured to try to be a role model for youth. I’m sure his parents are great fans of ours.”
Kadri has more than 239,000 followers on Twitter, while his cat has nearly 14,000 on Instagram. (John Tavares has just over 203,000 followers, Auston Matthews 159,000.)
“I find it entertaining,” Kadri said of his time on social media. “I’m not someone to read too much into certain things. I just go with it. I try to stay loose.
“I like to keep people up-to-date, especially the fans in Toronto. They appreciate the inside look of an athlete’s life, especially an athlete they’ve been following for a long time.”
Now into his seventh full season with the Leafs — and 10th in the organization — Kadri has thrived under coach Mike Babcock’s guidance.
He has emerged in the past couple of seasons as both the scoring threat he’d always promised to be, as well as becoming a shutdown centre — a development few saw coming.
Now, with Tavares in the fold, Babcock’s reliance on Kadri is changing. So far this year, Babcock has not been line matching. Kadri is not necessarily drawing
the heavy assignments, or the time that goes with it.
“With the depth of centres we have, it’s important to spread the ice out,” said Kadri. “Any one of those players can have an impact on the game.”
Indeed. Matthews is scoring. Tavares is scoring. Kadri? He had no goals, two assists and is minus-5 through the first three games. He’s averaging 15:26 of ice time, four minutes shy of Tavares, three shy of Matthews.
Basically, Babcock is letting the other coach worry about matching lines. Pick your poison: Try to stop Tavares, Matthews or Kadri. On Sunday, Chicago focused on Matthews, who got two goals, two assists in a 7-6 overtime Toronto win.
“Naz had a different type of line (last season) than he has this year,” Babcock said prior to the Leafs heading off on their current four-game road trip. “Right now, the way we’re going is we’re trying to get people on the ice as much as we possibly can and see
them all in all situations. Naz played a fair bit of wing and will after all (play) special teams a little bit so we can get his minutes to a level that’s good for him. Right now, we’re more just doing what we’ve got to do to get our team going.”
Kadri has new linemates this year, with Patrick Marleau having moved on to Tavares’s line and Leo Komarov having left as a free agent to sign with the New York Islanders.
Now Kadri has the ever-efficient Connor Brown on the right side — back in a topnine forward role — and Josh Leivo on his left, with Leivo getting a taste of being an everyday NHLer finally after a season as mainly a healthy scratch.
“He (Leivo) has some great attributes. He’s big, he can be physical. He sees the ice really well. I love him down low protecting pucks,” said Kadri.
Neither Leivo nor Brown registered a point through the first three games.
“It’s just a work in progress, they’re just figuring all that out,” said Babcock. “Obviously, Brownie has got to do what Brownie does. He’s got to be on the forecheck, be on their sticks, get to the net, track, penalty kill, do all those things. Leivo is just figuring out what he can do if he plays every day. The biggest thing for him is he’s got to work every shift. If he does that without the puck, the things with the puck will handle itself.”
Kadri is coming off back-to-back 32-goal seasons. He doesn’t see any reason that he’d slow down.
“Every year you want to surpass expectations, you want to have a career year every year,” said Kadri.
“For me, it’s not necessarily about the points and the goals. It’s about being a good teammate. Being there for the guys in the dressing room, knowing they can count on me and rely on me in certain situations. I want to have the best year of my career.”