With Phil Kessel out of Toronto, both Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri move up the list of go-to scapegoats for Maple Leafs fans.
New head coach Mike Babcock isn’t piling on, however. Instead, he sounds awfully positive about what Bozak and Kadri are capable of, and that they’re putting in the work to improve.
On Kadri: Babs doesn’t think that a contract year will be an issue for Kadri. Actually, he believes that the 24-year-old will be “a Leaf for a long time.”
On Bozak: Despite the center’s critics, Babcock doesn’t believe that Bozak is carrying “baggage.”
In both cases, Babcock wants more pace and better two-way play (he wants them to be “200-footers,” which evokes Subway party sandwiches).
Check out Babcock’s full comments in the video below:
As you can see from this video, Kadri also speaks about improving his footspeed, along with becoming a “role model” off the ice.
His 2014 off-season focus provided more entertaining video:
Finally, here’s video of Bozak, who’s moving on to life without his old roommate Kessel.