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Couture thinks Kadri should sign bridge contract

Nazem Kadri

Nazem Kadri #43 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets set for a faceoff against the Boston Bruins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 6, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 5-2 to take a 2-1 series lead. (May 5, 2013 - Source: Claus Andersen/Getty Images North America)

San Jose forward Logan Couture thinks Nazem Kadri should just sign the bridge deal the Toronto Maple Leafs are offering and stop trying to get the big-money, long-term contract he’s reportedly been after.

“I don’t know why he doesn’t just do a two-year deal,” Couture told sportsnet.ca yesterday. “Play and have a good two years like you know you can and then you’ll sign a nice deal after. You’ve just got to be confident that you’re going to have two good years.”

Kadri has refuted the reports of his contract demands (though he hasn’t publicly specified what they are).

Given Toronto’s cap crunch and Kadri’s lack of leverage as a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, it seems likely he’ll end up with a short-term deal, like the two-year, $5.75 million extension Couture signed in the summer of 2011.

Couture has since signed a five-year, $30 million extension that takes him through the 2018-19 season.

Related: ‘Plenty of money’ available for Kadri