The New Jersey Devils signing of young forward Adam Henrique to a six year, $24 Million deal on Monday was likely not well-received news by teams that have unsigned restricted free agents, like the Maple Leafs with Nazem Kadri.

The 23 year old struggled in his sophomore season, scoring 11 goals and five assists in 42 games after registering 51 points as a rookie, scoring the series-clinching goal in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers and being named a finalist for the Calder Trophy in 2011-12, but Devils GM Lou Lamoriello saw the opportunity to lock up a young promising player to a long term deal with some of the money opened up by the retirement/departure of Ilya Kovalchuk.

Toronto GM Dave Nonis may have some concern that Henrique’s deal will bolster the Kadri camp to ask for a similar long-term deal.

Kadri and Henrique are alike in that they have put up just one season of significant production. The Leafs 2009 first round pick scored only 19 points in 51 games spread over three seasons before getting regular playing time in 2013 under Randy Carlyle and finishing second on the Leafs with 44 points.

Sportsnet FAN 590’s David Alter reported on Sunday that the Leafs and the young center were “still far apart in contract negotiations” and were looking for a deal the same length as Henrique’s in the $5 Million to $6 Million range, but Kadri responded via Twitter that was not the case.

The Leafs are definitely are looking to follow the Matt Duchene / PK Subban model in getting Kadri to take a shorter term “bridge” deal for less money that would be more easy to squeeze in under the $64.3 Million salary cap and prove that 2013 was not a fluke.

If Derek Stepan, Cody Hodgson or Marcus Johansson sign another long-term deal after the expiration of their entry level deals, will Nonis be cornered into giving Kadri a deal he doesn’t want to????

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