Kadri’s career heading in a new direction
Centre earns praise from coach for taking on more of a defensive role on the ice
Nazem Kadri’s offensive stats line reads like something is not right with the Maple Leafs’ top centre and expected scoring leader.
Kadri ranks eighth overall in the NHL with 48 shots on goal, a seemingly sufficient amount to produce more than the lone goal he has up to this point in the season.
Yet, Kadri’s name continually surfaces when coach Mike Babcock doles out post-game praise. And that stems from the fact that offence, largely the defining aspect of Kadri’s career so far, is now standing in the shadow of his two-way play.
In fact, Kadri, a centre gifted with great hands, deft moves and creative thinking with the puck, is now more of a “shutdown” pivot. On most nights, he will be facing the opposition’s best line, and it will be Kadri who is expected to keep them off the scoreboard instead of solely focusing on point production.
“He’s (Babcock) given me the opportunity to have success on that level. It’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole career,” Kadri said of his growing role as a shutdown forward.
“He wants me to be two-dimensional, not all offence . . . and he’s giving me the opportunity to do that. And I’m going to make mistakes for sure, but I think I’ve done OK for the first month. Mike keeps giving me the opportunity to redeem myself when I make a mistake too.”
Kadri, naturally, has not lost sight of the fact he’s still among the club’s top six forwards, and expected to produce to the level of one.
Babcock, though, challenged him to become a three-zone player, one who covers the entire ice, with a consistent emphasis on backchecking and helping his defencemen out in the Leafs zone.
Kadri has faced that responsibility before with past Leaf coaches, but in Babcock’s systems, the centre is pos- sibly the key to the success of the entire approach.
“In our systems, too, there’s lots of demand on the centres to be up and down the ice all the time,” Kadri said.
“But if you do it the right way, you end up with the puck a lot more. You’re on offence more than you think and, let’s face it, it’s better playing offence than defence.”
Kadri and the Leafs had an off-ice practice Thursday in advance of back-to-back games — Friday at home to Detroit, and Saturday in Washington.
Babcock’s day included a press conference to confirm his return to the bench to guide Canada in the next major international competition, the World Cup in Toronto in 2016.
Leafs defenceman Frank Corrado returned to the Leafs from a conditioning stint with the Marlies, but the coaching staff has yet to determine where he draws in. The Leafs roster is at the maximum 23 players, so there’s the possibility of a player being returned to the Marlies to clear room for Corrado.
The Leafs also placed goalie Jona- than Bernier on the disabled list, retroactive to the last game he played, which was Oct. 31. Bernier must remain on the DL for at least seven days, which means he will not play in either of the back-to-back games this weekend.
James Reimer makes the start Friday at home to the Red Wings, but Babcock has not confirmed his goaltending plans for Saturday. That may pivot on how Reimer performs Friday; Marlies call-up Antoine Bibeau has stepped into the backup role, and could be pressed into a start, which would be the first of his NHL career.