The Toronto Maple Leafs hit the ground running on what is expected to be their busiest off-season in recent memory, by locking up restricted free agents Morgan Rielly and center Nazem Kadri to new six-year contracts.
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Kadri, coming out of a $4.1 million United States bridge deal was the more interesting case, given a season where he both pleased his bosses with development as an all-around player, yet still showed some rough edges and the need for on-ice discipline.
Rielly has always been considered one of the key components of the Leafs’ roster.
Kadri, the team’s leading scorer this season, registered 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 76 games. Rielly, 22, led all Leaf defencemen with a career-high 36 points, appearing in all 82 games this year and averaging 23:13 of ice time.
The London, Ontario native was originally selected by the Maple Leafs with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
With these extensions, Toronto is relying on these two to be big parts of the next contending Leafs team in the future.
Kadri finished the 2015-2016 season with 260 shots on goal, good for 12th in the National Hockey League.
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Kadri will make $27M on his deal while Reilly will make $30M on his deal.
