There was never any doubt that Morgan Rielly was a major part of the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ future. This season, after all, he became the club’s No. 1 defenceman.
There was, however, an enormous amount of doubt as to where Nazem Kadri fit in the grand scheme of things.
So the fact six-year contracts, with a combined $57 million in total value, were announced for both players at the same time Wednesday carries a great deal of symbolic importance, particularly for the 25-year-old Kadri. It’s the long-term investment in the 2009 first rounder that the Leafs have long been reluctant to make, as much because of their uncertainty over his commitment to his chosen profession off the ice as his elite talent on it.
But apparently they believe in him now, enough to give him a contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million, a slight increase on his $4.1 million salary this season. The deal buys four years of unrestricted free agency from the centre.
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Rielly’s contract averages $5 million per season, which means both contracts are relatively affordable, cap friendly deals, particularly in a world where the Canadian dollar has fallen (it’s been trending back up in recent days) and the salary cap for next season will either increase slightly or stay flat in the $71-72 million range.
Rielly seems like a shrewd, solid investment. Kadri looks riskier, with both a significant upside and downside.
“I don’t think they’ve tapped what they can do. No question they have a level they haven’t reached yet,” said Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello. “This is just another step towards where we want to be as far as developing the foundation of this franchise.”
After his three-year entry-level deal, Kadri had signed a two-year contract, then a one-year contract last summer. He still had two more seasons left before unrestricted free agency, and debate raged all season as to what the team would do with him.
Remember, it was only last year that things had gone so sideways with Kadri that the team decided it had to suspend him to get his attention. Even this season, he was suspended for giving an opposing player a throat-slashing gesture, and twice fined by the league for diving offences. But Kadri also led the low-scoring team in points (45), played tough matchups many nights and was consistently praised by new head coach Mike Babcock.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with (Kadri) this season,” said Lamoriello. “I’m totally comfortable with him going forward.”
Many people thought much of the praise heaped on Kadri was a lot of smoke, another case of the Leafs polishing the reputation of a player in order to enhance his trade value.
Well, apparently that wasn’t the case.
The Leafs have gone for cost certainty in locking up these two players for six years at the same time youngsters like William Nylander, Mitch Marner and others are joining the club. Toronto has two first round picks in June, one of which will be no worse than fourth overall.
These are the first multi-year pacts given out by the team in the Brendan Shanahan era, one in which a great deal of attention has been paid to dumping big contracts and finding ways to create salary cap space. Rielly, 22, and Kadri join Jake Gardiner as the only Leaf players under contract beyond the 2017-2018 season.
Neither is yet a star player, or a candidate for Canada’s World Cup team next fall, which means these decisions, particularly the decision to give Kadri the big contract, are going to receive a fair bit of attention and criticism. Rielly has yet to establish himself as one of the league’s top blue-liners — Lamoriello sees him as a future “all-star” — while Kadri is one of the most polarizing players in the league, drawing either high praise or heavy criticism.
The difference compared to other contracts given out in recent years to players like Dion Phaneuf, Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, is that Rielly and Kadri are both Maple Leafs draft picks, and weren’t acquired from other organizations.
The fact that Toronto could get both under contract long-term for an annual cap hit under $10 million is an accomplishment, particularly if you believe both are still approaching their true potential under Babcock.
After doing so much slashing and deleting over the past year, these contracts really represent the first major steps forward for the Leafs. They’ve bet $57 million on Rielly and Kadri. We’ll see if those were wise bets.
