Suspension knocks Nazem Kadri out for the rest of the first round — however long it goes,
Nylander slots into third line, Johnsson fills in on power play Toronto’s Nazem Kadri has missed a total of 14 games due to his previous suspensions.
Nazem Kadri was suspended for the rest of the Maple Leafs’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins, which left observers wondering if he had played his last game with the team, and the team figuring out how to move on without him.
The suspension, which was announced about an hour before Toronto’s 3-2 win over Boston on Monday, followed Kadri’s cross-check of Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk late in Game 2 Saturday, an apparent retaliation for DeBrusk’s hit on Patrick Marleau. It is Kadri’s fifth career suspension and his second playoff ban. He was banned three games last spring for boarding Boston’s Tommy Wingels.
“You can talk about it all you want but ... I think injuries, suspensions, are all part of hockey,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said.
“So you’ve got to find a way to be better.”
“We need other people to step up depending on who’s playing centre if he’s not here,” said Auston Matthews, before scoring his first goal of the playoffs Monday night. “We’ve lost him before. We feel like depth on this team is something we have and we can take advantage of. We just need a guy to step in and play centre. Then obviously we start from there.”
A couple of guys stepped up in Game 3. William Nylander took Kadri’s spot as the third-line centre, with winger Connor Brown moving up from the third line to take Nylander’s spot and Tyler Ennis joining the fourth line. Nylander provided a solid defensive effort. And Andreas Johnsson replaced Kadri on the first power-play unit and finished with a goal and an assist.
“I just tried to stay focused and play my role,” Johnsson said. “I’ve played on the power play in the regular season, but it was nice (to contribute) tonight.”
Kadri’s suspension, while odd in it not being a set number of games, was expected. He had been invited to an in-person hearing in New York, which could have led to a ban of at least five games from the NHL’s department of player safety. The league settled on three to five games.
“This is not a hockey play,” the department of player safety explained in a video. “Instead, this is a player retaliating against an opponent by using his stick as a weapon to make forceful and direct head contact.” Kadri and DeBrusk had a number of run-ins Saturday night, with the final one coming after DeBrusk took Marleau into the glass near where it angles out for the benches. Kadri appeared to cross-check DeBrusk in the head. Neither Marleau nor DeBrusk was injured.
“While we understand that Kadri took offence to DeBrusk’s hit against Marleau, players are simply not permitted to flagrantly violate league playing rules because they feel retribution is justified,” the league said.
Kadri was unlikely to escape further discipline with his suspension history. He had missed 14 games from his previous four bans.
And the consequences from this ban could last well beyond the first round of the playoffs. If the Leafs are eliminated, Kadri, who has played 10 seasons and 591 games in Toronto, could face an uncertain off-season.
The Leafs will be dealing with a financial crunch as they look to tie up a number of potential free agents, most notably foward Mitch Marner, whose extension could equal or surpass Matthews’ recent five-year, $52.17-million (U.S.) deal. Others looking for new deals include wingers Andreas Johnsson and Kaspari Kapanen.
With critics slamming Kadri for being selfish and out of control the last two post-seasons, the Leafs could find some relief by getting rid of his $4.5-million (U.S.) cap hit. He is signed through 2021-22.