The case for trading Nazem Kadri

Now, calm down Leafs fans.  I’m not talking about Brian Burke trading Nazem Kadri, he wouldn’t. I’m talking about Mark Hunter trading Nazem Kadri.  A lot of people – many of them Knights  fans- would ask why I would suggest this.The Knights are, after all, only second in their division and not that far out of first place. They’re playing good hockey right now, they’ll likely make the playoffs. Why would you trade your most skilled player? Because the precipice the London Knights are about to fall off after this season doesn’t have a pleasant landing area.  As it stands, the Knights will lose Kadri along with Phil Varone, Phil McCrae, Zac Rinaldo, Justin Taylor, Leigh Salters, Steve Tarasuk and Michael Hutchinson at the end of the season either due CHL graduation because of age or because of elevation to pro status. That’s six of London’s top nine forwards and their starting goaltender.

Not so fast! Many Knights fans would argue. There’s always the OHL Priority Selection. The Hunters have pulled off miracles on par with Lazarus rising from the dead at that particular event.  True. But in order to pull off those miracles one has to have draft picks. And while the Knights still have their first rounder, due largely to OHL rules that prevent teams from trading their first rounder, they’ve lost most of their second and third rounders well into the next decade as a result of last year’s blockbuster trade that landed them John Tavares and Michael Del Zotto from the Oshawa Generals.  With the OHL promising a stricter crackdown on recruiting and drafting at this year’s event.  Hunter miracles will have to be restricted to the first round or else be actual miracles.  Ah but, Knights fans will often counter, we are always able to recruit from past draft classes. The Knights do, after all, own the OHL rights to USNTDP forward Chase Balisy (2010 eligible) and defensemen Jarred Tinordi (2010 eligible) and Adam Clendening (2010 eligible). If all these players report, next year’s edition of the Knights will be good.

True. But that’s a definite double edge sword. Balisy is uncommitted at the NCAA level and as a former Toronto Jr. Canadian, could very well be London bound next season.  London is a reputable junior program, they could manage to pull Tinordi away from Notre Dame and Clendening away from Boston University. But other reputable programs, Kitchener and Guelph, had problems last season attempting similar feats with Jerry D’Amigo and Kyle Palmieri. With Kevin Shattenkirk and Eric Gryba likely to graduate from the Terriers’ blue-line this off season, Clendening will have the chance to make an impact as a freshman on the Terriers back end.  The same can be said for Tinordi at Notre Dame. How then does Mark Hunter go about recouping assets for next season? The answer is simple, he’s going to have to trade assets that currently have value on the roster.

Now, in our roundabout way, we return to Nazem Kadri. The youngster impressed the hockey world as the second best forward at Leafs camp this pre-season.  But since he was returned to London, he’s been playing lazy hockey. He is, for my money anyway, the third most offensively talented forward in the league behind only Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. But he’s producing at a lacklustre rate. The stats sheet tells you a lot of the story but it does leave the picture incomplete. When he decides to play, he scores highlight reel goals and shows the full extent of the skill level that made him a 7th Overall selection last June in Montreal. When he decided to not play, he disappears in plain sight. There have been a collection of reasons for this. Some NHL scouts have argued that London’s reputation for a lack of accountability among star players contributes to attitude issues with some star players. Some pro scouts have said that Kadri needs to play with more talented players because he needs players of a certain skill set to capitalize on some of the more difficult passes and opportunities he creates. There are those on the other side that would argue that this kid should be able to dominate regardless of how pampered he is or who he’s playing with. Everyone has a little truth in their tale.

The Knights obviously benefit long term from trading Kadri. While he won’t fetch a Tavares sized ransom, he’ll likely fetch the Hunters a young player and quite a few picks in return. With the Knights defensive depth, they aren’t going to be mistaken for the team that pushed Windsor hard in a winnable five game series last spring. These Knights are gonna be in tough just to get out of the first round this year. In the end, there’s really no good reason not to trade Nazem. There are teams in the East like Mississauga, Kingston and even Peterborough that could all use an offensive gamebreaker and have the assets to play “Let’s Make a Deal” with London. It would help the Knights, it would help Nazem Kadri’s development and it would make the OHL Playoffs a lot more interesting. Let’s start the bidding at your 2009 Priority Selection first rounder and a few of forthcoming second and third rounders. Any takers?