If you haven’t been keeping tabs on the Maple Leafs this summer, restricted free agent Nazem Kadri is still unsigned.
The Leafs are in a bind with the salary cap with both Kadri and Cody Franson left to get inked to new deals, and with less than $5 million in cap space to get it done, time ticks away.
After breaking out last season, Kadri is in position to cash in and he told Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun he’s trying to be cool about it.
Kadri on his stalled Leaf contract: “I know I’m being pretty reasonable, taking cap into consideration, when really, that’s not my job."
— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) August 20, 2013
See, he’s trying to be considerate of the cap but he’s also dealing out a ton of truth. It’s not his job to do that. It’s his job to score goals and get paid whatever he can to do it.
This is where Leafs GM Dave Nonis has put himself in a bit of a bind with the big deals he handed to David Clarkson and Tyler Bozak. Burning compliance buyouts on Mikhail Grabovski and Mike Komisarek drew plenty of criticism as it was while other players could’ve been chosen.
Now he’s got to find a way to appease both remaining RFAs and stay under the cap. Leafs faithful has to hope Nonis has a trade trick up his sleeve to solve this situation.