Why Nazem Kadri's Suspension Shouldn't Lead to Toronto Maple Leafs Exit

The Toronto Maple Leafs may not be a particularly successful club, but they never lack for drama. On Thursday, the theatrics revolved around 24-year-old Nazem Kadri following an announcement from the team that it had decided to suspend the young centre for two games, according to the team's official Twitter account:

Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan explained the decision in a press availability that was streamed on the team's website:

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If this were just a case of Nazem being 15 minutes late for a meeting one time, yes, then you could probably sweep this under the rug and handle this internally, maybe take the guys out to lunch or something like that. The easiest thing for us to do at this point would be to sweep this under the rug and put this off to the offseason to deal with. But Naz is an important part of our future. We like Nazem Kadri; his teammates like him. We expect a certain level of professionalism. It’s time for him to start making better decisions. There’s a history here.

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There is a lot in that statement, and it’s worth unpacking.

The key takeaway for many will be Kadri’s history. Shanahan danced around the edges of Kadri’s relationship with the team without spelling out exactly what that history entailed. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman helped fill in some of the blanks, noting that two of Kadri’s former coaches (Dallas Eakins and Ron Wilson) had singled the pivot out for special attention, trying to get the most out of the player.

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It’s an important part of this picture, but it deserves a little context. Friedman cited teammate Joffrey Lupul and Shanahan himself as examples of players who had faced similar punishments for off-ice infractions. He also referred to a recent suspension to Stars forward Cody Eakin for an off-ice incident. Kadri is hardly the only player in the history of the game to run afoul of team rules as a young man.

Shanahan’s comment quoted above also puts an interesting slant on the decision. The obvious explanation for the suspension was that Kadri had fallen into a pattern of unprofessional behavior and that this decision was an attempt to rectify that.

Shanahan made that case, but he also justified the timing of the move, calling Kadri “an important part of our future” and making it clear that the player’s value was one of the reasons the team wanted to deal with this immediately rather than putting a decision off.

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That’s one of the reasons why there’s reason to believe the relationship between the Leafs and Kadri hasn’t been irreparably damaged by this. Shanahan’s words are not those of a man especially interested in trading the player.

The words are consistent with the team’s actions, too. If the Maple Leafs wanted to trade Kadri, they would hardly be worried about improving his long-term professionalism and certainly wouldn’t be advertising his off-ice problems to the league with a public suspension.

The other reason for a certain level of optimism is Kadri himself.

Back in April 2012, Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star reported one incident involving Kadri and Eakins, who was famously tough on the player in the AHL. After a pair of bad turnovers in one game, Eakins benched Kadri, who at the time was the Toronto Marlies’ best offensive player. Kadri promised to make amends for his mistake, and eventually Eakins put him back out on the ice. He scored the winning goal.

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“He came back to the bench and he looks at me and says, ‘I told you I was going to make it up to the team,’” Eakins told Feschuk. “That’s the great thing about it. He’s a competitive kid. When he does it, he’s not throwing the finger up to us like, ‘(Forget) you, I’m going to do this my way.’”

Certainly ironing out this current difficulty is in the interests of both player and team.

From Kadri’s perspective, the Leafs aren’t the only club in the league that will demand off-ice professionalism; anywhere he goes the expectation that he act like a pro will follow. He could demand a trade out of town, but his next coach isn’t just going to shrug his shoulders if he consistently shows a lack of respect for the rules.

The Leafs certainly aren’t in any position to turn their backs on the player, either. Kadri is one name on an awfully short list of good young players who've been developed by a rebuilding Toronto team, and the club needs him on the ice. As Friedman noted in his piece, Kadri is also one of the few players delivering in a brutal 2014-15 season in southern Ontario.

At this point, neither side would seem to be well-served by a divorce.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.