In the week following the Toronto Maple Leafs trading Nazem Kadri to Colorado along with Calle Rosen for Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot, it has come to light that Kadri blocked a deal that would have sent him to Calgary.
According to Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons, Kadri was to be sent to the Flames along with Connor Brown for defenseman TJ Brodie and center Mark Jankowski, but the 28-year-old former Leaf said no thanks.
In the end, the Leafs may be thanking Kadri for his last bit of stubbornness. Brodie (as with Barrie) is entering the final year of his contract, but the 29-year-old is a left-shot blueliner who can and has played the right side, which would not be helpful to Mike Babcock’s preference for left-right shooting combos.
Brodie is a solid defender who has averaged 34 points over the last three seasons, but is not as offensively gifted as Barrie, who posted 116 points over the last two years.
Jankowski, 24, scored 17 goals as a rookie and a career-high 32 points last season, and makes $1.675 Million this season before becoming a restricted free agent. The Hamilton native would have provided a big-bodied presence up the middle that would take the place of Frederik Gauthier (who likely will be a reserve or a Toronto Marlie with the acquisition of veteran Jason Spezza), but Kerfoot is a better skater and has scored over 40 points in his first two NHL seasons.
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The Toronto Marlies will have quite a different look next season, due in part to players who may earn NHL promotions, but also due to an exodus of a number of veteran farmhands.
Center Chris Mueller (who finished second behind Jeremy Bracco in scoring with 65 points) signed a one-year deal with Tampa Bay last week, forward Colin Greening retired after nine professional seasons, defenseman Vincent LoVerde signed an AHL deal with Hartford, Josh Jooris signed in Switzerland, winger Michael Carcone was included in the deal that sent Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Brown to Ottawa and Calle Rosen was sent to the Avs in the deal for Barrie and Kerfoot.
With Trevor Moore likely to make the Leafs and the fates of Bracco, Mason Marchment, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin depending on their performance at training camp, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has attempted to replace the departing veterans, signing Nick Shore, Kenny Agostino and Kevin Gravel, and acquiring Ben Harpur and Aaron Luchuk from Ottawa.
Shore played last season with Magnitogorsk(KHL) after playing with three NHL clubs (LA, Ottawa and Calgary) in 2018. Agostino is a speedy winger who played with Montreal and New Jersey and may fill the role of an extra forward with the Leafs. Gravel played mostly as an extra defenseman in Edmonton last season and Harpur played a similar role with the Sens.
Free agent signings such as Joseph Duszak, Teemu Kivihalme and draftees Mac Hollowell, Jesper Lindgren, Joseph Woll, Ian Scott and Yegor Korshkov will step into roles, as will players who do not make the cut with the Leafs (such as Gauthier, Garret Sparks and Martin Marincin), but the club make be looking to find veterans willing to take AHL contracts to provide some support to the organization’s youngsters, as they did on Monday with the signing of 29-year-old Darren Archibald.
Archibald played with Vancouver, Ottawa Senators and their AHL affiliates in Utica and Belleville last season and is a native of Newmarket, ON and on an AHL deal will not be subject to waivers, but will not be eligible to play for the Leafs unless they sign him to an NHL contract.
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