moon111 said:
Kadri, Raymond, and Gardiner for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jeff Petry
By the look of Leaf scouting activity, it's Colorado that this, if true, might be all about. I have enough firsthand experience to know that old-school coaching only worked because there weren't any other options, so it worked like believing the earth was flat, or that human sacrifices made it rain. It worked because we thought it did, not because it did. So if this is a continuation of Carlyle being unfair to Kadri, then i almost hope he gets traded. Kids don't deserve that. He's had 1 1/2 years of very solid point production, and although he might not be the best fit in terms of ideal skillset, he has, one way or the other, a long NHL career ahead of him.
But taking a look at Colorado's roster, it isn't crazy to assume that they would at least consider Reimer, and adding Gardiner's style at the back makes good sense, as well. Kadri could serve a part in that trade, if Toronto's return were Landeskog, Duchene, Stastny, or maybe O'Reilly.
First, we heard it from Burke and Wilson, that he has some "nasty habits" keeping him in the minors; then, it's only continued with Nonis and Carlyle. Everyone i know who knows him at all says he's a pretty classy kid who believes in his ability. I think the latter part of that is pretty much a given for anyone who becomes a professional athlete, irrespective of the sport. A sense of self is the only thing to keep you playing a kid's game, day after day, on the tiny off-chance that you can turn it into a career.
So fine, let him be available. It would be hard to imagine any but Bernier, Kessel, and maybe Dion as occupying the "untouchables" list. And that is fine, because it ties directly into the ego of a professional athlete comment.
If long-term contracts have taught us anything, it's that nothing atrophies an athlete's usefulness like a sense of entitlement.
So let this archaic attempt to motivate a young guy be just that, if that's what it is. But if we're going to be trading away our kids again, it better be to upgrade, without sacrificing the future for a gradually improving present.
If Colorado has any truth to it, that might make Stastny the red flag. At 28, with a questionable current season, that sounds all to familiar to me to be a good idea, especially if it costs Kadri.
