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NHL Trade Rumors: 5 Maple Leafs who may be moved this summer

By Simon Vacca

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 04: Nikita Zaitsev #22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes part in warm up before playing the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Scotiabank Arena on April 4, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 04: Nikita Zaitsev #22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes part in warm up before playing the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Scotiabank Arena on April 4, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 23: Nazem Kadri #43 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gives an interview between period against the Washington Capitals at the Scotiabank Arena on January 23, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 23: Nazem Kadri #43 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gives an interview between period against the Washington Capitals at the Scotiabank Arena on January 23, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /

4. Nazem Kadri

Age: 28
Position: C

When the legacy of the Auston Matthews era in Toronto is eventually taken up, much will be said about what the organization’s administrative body opted to make of its talented, but polarizing third-line center, Nazem Kadri.

As one of the NHL’s most gifted two-way forwards signed to a bargain of a contract, Kadri should be locked in as part of the team’s core until the 2021-22 season. But costly suspensions in the midst of consecutive Stanley Cup playoff campaigns — one for three games for a hit on Boston Bruins center Tommy Wingels in the 2018 postseason, and another for the duration of the club’s first-round series for a cross-check on Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk in 2019 — has ultimately caused Kadri’s future with the organization to be rendered questionable at best.

As such, Dubas is left to consider what promises to be one of the more divisive topics of his career as a GM: Trade Kadri now — while his value is at a recent low — or hold out and hope that the 28-year-old manages to marry prowess with a degree of control going forward.

It is a well known secret that many teams have expressed interest in obtaining Kadri. If moving the edgy center is the course of action that the Maple Leafs seek to undertake, there will be no shortage of options at the franchise’s disposal.

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