Last year when Mike Babcock took over the Maple Leafs one of the first things he did was have a talk with Toronto’s seventh overall pick from the 2009 Draft; Nazem Kadri.
Babcock had seen Kadri play against his former team a number of times and had a pretty good understanding of what skills Nazem had. Being the elite coach that he is, Babs knew what Kadri needed to work on to mature and blossom into a better all-round NHL player.
First thing was first, Kadri was going to be taking on the role of the Leafs number one center, being put in a number of important situations and counted on for key face-offs and end game situations in a shutdown role.
Kadri worked hard last season, he really did. The team was horrendous and Kadri’s shooting percentage was pathetic; but it was all worth it in the end. The Leafs drafted Matthews and Kadri had a season of working hard at improving different facets of his game.
Nazem Kadri now has 20 goals and 13 assists with 63 penalty minutes and a team leading ten power play goals. He’s been a real hound this season keeping other teams elite players off the scoresheet, McDavid especially. Kadri’s ferocious tendencies have continued as he is a feisty player who likes to lay hard hits, get into the greasy area’s and of course put the puck in the back of the net. He’s improved in the face-off circle and he seems to have fully figured out Mike Babcock’s system as the Leafs rise in year two with their new coaching staff.
Could this year be Kadri’s first 60+ point season with 100 penalty minutes? That’s upper echelon if you ask me as not too many players in the league can dish out that kind of output and style of play. He’s already got 3 more goals than last season and the Leafs are only 45 games deep.
Kadri is firing on all cylinders right now; it’s great to see “the dream… flourishing under Babcock after the crap he went through with Ron Wilson. I’m sure that’s behind Kadri now as he and the Leafs are going from zero to hero after sinking the ship last season. Another player for the Leafs who is really excelling this season is Jake Gardiner. “The Snake… has been excellent in his second year under Babcock. A big part of that I’m sure is the team being much better, but Gardiner himself has found another level to his game. His brain seems to be making wiser choices with outlet passes, pinching and of course skating the puck up the ice and getting the Leafs a quality scoring chance.
Gardiner has 6 goals and 17 assists but hear this, a +11 rating after being a combined -38 in the two seasons before. It’s a combination of Babcock’s system, the Leafs icing a quality team and Gardiner figuring out his role on the team and using his smooth skating and creativity to his advantage. It really does seem like Gardiner has finally figured it out and has been one of the best defensemen for the Maple Leafs. Without a doubt Gardiner is going to have his best season in the NHL, he just may break the 40 point mark for the first time.
He’s filled in well for Morgan Rielly over the last couple games which are huge for the Leafs playoff push. Gardiner like Kadri is 26 year old and just entering his prime years; if he can continue to improve his overall game like he did from last season the Leafs management team will be thrilled.
A lot of talk has been of the Maple Leafs rookies, as it should be. But both Gardiner and Kadri are looked at as veterans on this team and they have both stepped it up this year embracing their roles and are doing an ace job at helping lead this fresh Maple Leafs team to where they are, in the glory hole of a playoff spot.
How good does it feel when you load up nhl.com and look at the Leafs in the standings!!
The Leafs will journey into Detroit tonight to play the Red Wings who just played last night against Boston. They were leading 3-2 heading into the third period and blew the lead and lost in overtime. The Leafs need to get off to another dominating first period start as they have been all season and it won’t be long til the wing-wheel falls off the hinges and the Leafs send the squids back to the local fish market. There won’t be any octopus on the ice tonight, sorry Detroit!
Enjoy the game, and prepare for another dandy tomorrow night!
Thanks for reading, happy hump day!
Go Leafs Go!