Talk to people around the NHL about Nazem Kadri and there’s one theme that emerges again and again.
Go even further back to his junior days and you’ll hear about the same characteristic.
Even in the highly competitive world of professional hockey, there’s a fire that burns inside Kadri that is rare. There’s a competitiveness that not every player possesses.
It’s what stood out to Brian Burke, back when he drafted him seventh-overall in 2009 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it’s what got Kadri to this week, when he’ll play his 1,000th NHL game when the Calgary Flames host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.
“Even back in junior, he was a 100-point guy back in London and we saw the star potential, but the question was he was small, could he compete?” Burke recalls. “Right after I drafted him, his dad said to me ‘If he ever gives you a hard time, punch him in the face and then call me,’ so he was brought up right, this kid.
“His compete level and his skill level were off the charts. I loved him when I saw him.”
That competitive streak is something that comes up again and again when you talk to people around the hockey world about Kadri.
It’s what stood out when he was with the London Knights and he put up 25 goals and 53 assists in his draft year and then followed it up with 93 points the next season.
It’s what defined him in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, where he honed his game for a few seasons before establishing himself full-time in the NHL.
And it’s how Kadri has made his name in the best league in the world, first with the Leafs and then with the Colorado Avalanche — where he won a Stanley Cup in 2022 — and now with the Flames, where he has led the team in scoring for the past two seasons and is doing the same this season with three goals and seven assists in 14 games.
Sometimes, his competitive streak has gotten him in trouble. Suspensions were a fact of life during his time in Toronto and he famously was suspended eight games for an illegal hit on St. Louis Blues defenceman Justin Faulk during the 2021 playoffs.
Since signing in Calgary, there have been no disciplinary issues. He has played in all 82 games in all three seasons since he signed a seven-year, US$49-million contract with the Flames in 2022.
That fiery streak is still there, though.
“Very good player, he adds a lot of elements to a team,” said Leafs head coach Craig Berube, who was coaching the Blues in 2021. “He’s the type of guy who you never know what you’re going to get. I remember we were playing them in the playoffs in Colorado and he had a huge hit on Faulk, I know he got suspended, but he’s capable of that kind of thing, that stuff, but he’s also a very good player.
“He can score goals, make plays, he’s a gamer as a hockey player, is the way I’d put it. He plays. He goes out and plays and is a very competitive guy.”
There it is again, the competitiveness.
You just can’t escape it when you talk to hockey people about Kadri and it predates his time playing in the NHL. After an impressive start to his junior career that saw him put up 65 points in 68 games for a Kitchen Rangers team that won the OHL championship, he was flipped to the Knights in a blockbuster deal.
Remember, the Knights are one of the most successful organizations in the junior hockey world and, for a teenager from London, Ont., playing for your hometown team carried certain pressure and expectation.
Even back then, though, there was something different about Kadri.
“What stood out to us when Nazem was in London was his commitment to being a pro-style player,” said longtime Knights owner, president and GM Dale Hunter, who played 19 seasons in the NHL himself. “It’s not a surprise that he’s going to play more than a thousand games in the National Hockey League. High compete, skill, dedication was all there.
“Playing in his hometown in front of our fans, he really understood the position he was in and made the most out of his opportunity here. He has a strong passion for the game and a will to win. Mark (Hunter) and I are proud of Nazem’s accomplishments in the NHL.”
If playing for one of the CHL’s flagship teams in your hometown put a spotlight on Kadri, it was only going to get brighter. Along with Luke Schenn, who was drafted fifth overall in 2007, Kadri was viewed as a potential young saviour for an aging Leafs team that had struggled to adapt to the new NHL after the 2004-05 lockout.
He’d spend another year with the Knights after getting drafted before arriving in Toronto, arguably the most hockey-mad market in the world, with a considerable amount of hype to his name.
His first few years were split between the Toronto Marlies in the AHL and the Leafs.
“When I had him with the Marlies, it was amazing,” said Dallas Eakins, who was the AHL outfit’s head coach from 2009 to 2013. “He was a very young player and that’s a really tough league on young players and, when the games weren’t going a certain way, it often wasn’t like our tough guy went in and got a hit or there was a fight, it was Naz. He would drag our team into the fight all the time. I’ve always absolutely loved that about him.
“He’s an interesting guy, I remember back to those Marlies days and he wasn’t a pro at all yet. He was coming out of junior and was trying to find his way in the big city, and he and I had lots of ups and downs, but it’s amazing after all these years, we’ve stayed in touch and I got to know his parents quite well and it’s been amazing to watch this progress of him going from a kid to a good player to a really impactful player in the NHL to a Stanley Cup champion and a husband and a father.”
Kadri would go on to play nine seasons with the Leafs. He was one of the biggest sporting stars in the city and was there as the Leafs struggled in the early 2010s, and then began to climb back towards contention through the middle part of the decade.
While he eventually was traded to the Avalanche in 2019 after being suspended in two straight playoffs, Kadri was a core piece in the organization re-building and becoming a perennial playoff team.
He’s still close with his former teammates and his name is constantly included in Leafs trade rumours. For a team with a perceived lack of competitive fire in the playoffs, a guy with Kadri’s competitive streak seems like the perfect fix, even if the Flames haven’t shown any inclination to move him publicly.
“I feel very lucky to have had the chance to play with him,” Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly said . “He’s a great friend and a great teammate … When I was a young guy coming in here, he was a little bit older than me and just awesome to be around at that point in my career. We’ve stayed friends since and he’s just a guy who as a human being is thoughtful and kind and very competitive. As a player, he’s the ultimate competitor and loves the game.”
Again, the competitiveness sticks out. Not just on the ice, either.
“I think I’ve played golf with him a thousand times and I’ve done team events and competitions and it’s always very competitive (with Kadri),” Rielly said. “It really comes out on the ice. You can tell when games become more important or the times get tough, he brings out his best. I think that’s a great quality.”
Nowhere did that shine through more than in Colorado. When people say that players might just need a change of scenery, they can probably point to Kadri as the quintessential example of that working out. He was a star in Toronto, to be sure, but hit a new level once he joined an ascendent Avalanche team that felt like it was on the precipice of something truly special.
Slotted in as the Avs’ second-line centre, Kadri upped his game over three seasons in Colorado, peaking with a career-best season in 2021-22 that saw him score 28 goals and 59 assists in 71 games and then putting up 15 points in 16 playoff games to help lead the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup.
“I love Naz,” said Cale Makar, the Avs’ superstar blueliner. “He was just a gamer. Any time you needed him to step up, he was always there. Regardless of his personality and everything, he found a way the second he hit that ice. He was a completely different person and you knew exactly what you were getting from him.
“For us, his consistency and his competitiveness and being a gamer was definitely a huge factor for us winning a Cup. It’s incredible, honestly, what he was able to push through in that run.”
Those playoffs in 2022 may be what ultimately defines Kadri’s career.
After colliding with Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington in the second round, Kadri was the target of horrific, racist abuse from some of the St. Louis fans and was booed every time he touched the puck the next game. It went above and beyond what any player should have to deal with — and we’ll touch on Kadri’s impact on diversity in the NHL in a follow-up story — but he responded with his first-ever playoff hat trick.
In the conference final against the Edmonton Oilers, Kadri had his thumb broken by Evander Kane. The injury required surgery, but Kadri returned in time for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final, scoring the overtime winner in his first game back.
That doesn’t happen without an uncommon competitive drive.
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“Naz is such a special player and person,” Avs centre Nathan MacKinnon said. “He’s just a competitor. The best thing about Naz is you always knew he was there when it really mattered. He’d rather play against the best team in the league on a Saturday night than a Tuesday in a sleepy place.
“He liked the bright lights, he scored some of the biggest goals in Avalanche history and he was here for three years but every time he comes back it’s like he was here for 20. There’s no Cup without Naz.
“With Naz, his (thumb) was shattered. I don’t know how he played through that and how well he played. We had a ton of warriors on that team and Naz was leading the way.”
After lifting the Cup with the Avs, Kadri was the first NHLer to bring the Stanley Cup to a mosque when he visited his hometown London Muslim Mosque in the summer of 2022. Later that summer, he’d officially sign with the Flames.
Later, we’ll look at his impact on diversity in the game and his time in Calgary.
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