Maple Leafs rumoured to target Nazem Kadri in blockbuster trade!

The Toronto Maple Leafs are getting to make a significant move ahead of the trade deadline in the hopes of adding not only third-line scoring but also a defensively sound center who can come in and make an impact at both ends of the ice. Rumours have recently linked the Maple Leafs to different players around the league, including Brock Nelson, Ryan O’Reilly and Yanni Gourde, but now insider Jeff Marek believes Toronto could look for a reunion with Nazem Kadri.

On his latest podcast, Marek spoke about the possibility of Leafs general manager Brad Treliving investigating in his former roster of the Calgary Flames.

“I have a hard time believing that somewhere down the road that the Maple Leafs don’t make a pitch for, or have a conversation about Nazem Kadri of the Calgary Flames.”

When you think of the type of player Kadri has been and how he is again having a solid season, with 16 points in 26 games with Calgary, you easily see why this could be a perfect fit for Toronto.

However, Kadri comes with a high price, a $7M cap hit for the next four seasons and will be 38 years old once the deal expires. It is unclear if that the type of money the Maple Leafs want to invest on a veteran player when a lot of cash is still needed for pending free agents and the superstars in Toronto.

Earlier this week, Nick Kypreos reported how the Maple Leafs are going to make a deal before the deadline and it’s easy to wonder if he could have been hinting at Kadri. Kypreos explained on the Real Kyper and Bourne show how Pontus Holmberg could be used as trade bait to buy them some breathing room.

“Holmberg can buy them time. Holmberg is buying them time for the eventual trade their gonna make. Looking for a center. Go big, this is the year to go big. It’ll feel like another Ryan O’Reilly trade.”

The Maple Leafs would still need to juggle the cap issues if they are seriously looking at bringing back Kadri. Sure the cap is going up in the summer, but Toronto would still need to make it work for the months remaining in the season in order to be cap compliant.

This could be a very interesting one to watch out for as we move closer to the trade deadline in March.