Nazem Kadri in a No-Win Situation With the Leafs

by Alan Adams

Filed under: Maple Leafs

Nazem Kadri placed himself in a no-win situation as soon as he pulled the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey over his shoulders for the first time two Junes ago.

Firstly, there was the suffocating hype of being the Maple Leafs' first pick, seventh overall, in the 2009 NHL Draft and the added weight of being Brian Burke's first ever draft pick as the general manager of the fabled Leafs.

When Burke used "truculent" to describe the type of team he wanted, Kadri, fairly or unfairly, was tossed into the mix as a top six bruising forward as Burke began to put his stamp on the team.

The fact that Kadri nearly forced management to keep him up as an 18-year-old when he had three goals and five points in six preseason games last season spoke more to the ineptness of the Leafs at that time than his potential. Remember this was a team that wound up finishing 29th overall and had the NHL's worst power-play and penalty-killing units last season.

Suffice to say, expectations were perhaps a tad too high for the young centre, who was practically viewed as the second coming of Doug Gilmour around these parts. But then again, unrealistic expectations aren't exactly a new thing in the hockey-mad city.

 

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