Ex-NHL GM Lists Nazem Kadri As His "No. 1" Trade Target for Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a priority this season of finding another legit center to add to the mix, as it's become apparent that they're short at least one top-nine pivot.

A number of names have been tossed around as ideal trade additions up the middle, and others as fallback 3C options. But according to former NHL GM/President of hockey operations and head coach Doug MacLean, there's one center that the Leafs have "got to go get", and it's a familiar name in Toronto—Nazem Kadri.

“They need a Kadri… If they get him and they go against Florida and these (playoff) teams, it’s going to be a different series.”@DougMaclean shares how a Nazem Kadri reunion changes the #LeafsForever trajectory with @RealKyper & @jtbourne.

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"They've gotta get Kadri. They've gotta go get him," MacLean told Nick Kyreos and Justin Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Fan.

"If you're going to play against teams in the playoffs (like) the Florida Panthers, the Carolina Hurricanes, the New Jersey Devils, the NY Rangers, they NEED a Kadri.

"I know people in Toronto are gonna say 'MacLean's clueless', but I'm telling you... That's the No. 1 thing I would say to (Leafs GM) Brad Treliving."

MacLean adds that he heard that Treliving was indeed "kicking tires" in Calgary, assessing trade possibilities. He realizes that there's still some "animosity" from Treliving's departure from Calgary as their former GM, but he says the Leafs' boss must do "everything he can do in his power" to re-acquire Kadri for Toronto.

Of course, the feisty forward was a Maple Leaf for 10 seasons, and definitely brought a scrappy element to the team that they haven't had at center ever since.

But to say it didn't end well in his first go-round in Toronto is an understatement. Kadri earned himself costly suspensions in each of his last two playoff series with the Leafs, in 2018 and 2019. He did the same thing with the Colorado Avalanche during their 2021 playoff effort, before finally being able to stay the course and win a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2022.

But MacLean insinuates the Leafs should forget about the past (except that 2022 performance in Colorado), and his final words on the subject for Treliving & Co.: "C'mon — Get Kadri!"

The one thing he didn't mention is the fact that the 34-year-old Kadri still has four seasons left (after this one) on his seven-year, $7 million AAV contract.