Ex-GM Makes Bold Trade Plea, Maple Leafs “Kicking Tires” on Old Star

Doug MacLean — who may or may not be the most reliable source of news in the hockey world — says the Toronto Maple Leafs have been kicking tires with the Calgary Flames on the availability of Nazem Kadri. MacLean admitted that people will think he’s nuts to be suggesting such a trade given GM Brad Treliving’s history with the Flames, but he was adamant he’d heard they were asking about the idea.

“Toronto’s got to get Kadri. They gotta go get him.” MacLean added:

“If you’re going to play against teams in the playoffs—Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Rangers—you need a player like Kadri. I know some people in Toronto think MacLean is clueless, but I’m telling you, if I’m Brad Treliving and I hear they’re kicking tires—I heard today they were kicking tires there—Treliving got his hands full because of a little animosity because of how Kadri left, and the Huberdeau deal still stings Calgary’s ownership.”

“They need a Kadri… If they get him and they go against Florida and these (playoff) teams, it’s going to be a different series.”@DougMaclean shares how a Nazem Kadri reunion changes the #LeafsForever trajectory with @RealKyper & @jtbourne.

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MacLean argued that Treliving should do everything he could do in his power to go into the playoffs with the Toronto Maple Leafs with [Auston] Matthews at one, Kadri at two, and John Tavares at three. He said that this combination of centers against some of the better teams in the Eastern Conference makes it a different series.

MacLean Says the Maple Leafs Should Get Kadri and Weegar

MacLean then really went off the board and suggested the Leafs try to get MacKenzie Weegar out of Calgary as well. Saying Toronto has all these cap geniuses in the organization, they should be able to pull it off if they want to badly enough.

Perhaps that statement was enough to discount what MacLean was saying, especially considering the cost it would take to pry both players out of Calgary and the cap space the Leafs would need to do so.

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