The Maple Leafs finished an important piece of offseason business just hours before the start of training camp by inking promising young center Nazem Kadri to a two-year deal that TSN reports is worth $5.2 million and averages roughly $2.9 million per season.
Kadri tweeted the following after the deal was struck:
Happy to be with the leafs for the next couple years, looking forward to camp #leafnation #bestnation
— Nazem Kadri (@43_Kadri) September 11, 2013
The Maple Leafs announced the deal Tuesday night, which means that Kadri will be in training camp when it opens up Wednesday.
Kadri, 22, had 18 goals and 26 assists for the Maple Leafs last season, finishing second on the team in scoring with 44 points through 48 games in the lockout-shortened season. Kadri completed his entry-level contract last season and was a restricted free agent and wasn't arbitration eligible.
Kadri was selected by Toronto in the first-round of the NHL Draft in 2009 with the No. 7 overall pick. Kadri played sporadically with the Leafs throughout the past four seasons, but last year was the first year he played in every game with the team. For his career, Kadri has appeared in 99 NHL games, netting 26 goals and 37 assists for a total of 63 points.
Kadri had two hat tricks last season and had 11 multi-point games. His contract is common as a lot of times in the NHL a player will receive an entry level deal and then a bridge contract that takes them up to when they are eligible for arbitration and a potential big money deal.
The next piece of duty for the Maple Leafs to get out of the way is signing defensemen Cody Franson, 26, who had four goals and 25 assists through 45 games last season.
The Maple Leafs are looking to add on a promising campaign last season that ended in utter heartbreak for the team and its fans. Toronto was 26-17-5 last season with 57 points, and though it finished third in the Northeast Division, Toronto still qualified for its first playoff berth since the 2003-04 season by locking up the No. 5 seed.
In its first-round matchup with the fourth-seeded Boston Bruins, Toronto was one period away from advancing to the second round before the Bruins rallied from a 4-1 deficit by scoring three third period goals and one more in overtime to bounce Toronto from what seemed like an inevitable advancement after the Leafs rallied back from a 3-1 series hole by winning two-straight games and took a commanding lead into the third period of the seventh game.
The Leafs are looking for Kadri and the rest of their youth to erase the painful memory of a terrible finish to last season with a strong start on Oct. 1 when the season opens up against the Canadiens in Montreal.
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