CALGARY – It was one of the finest displays of leadership Nazem Kadri has shown as a Flame to date.
Minutes after his club opened a fresh new season with their first skate of training camp Thursday, there stood the 33-year-old centre fielding questions about his future in town.
The sort of questions that have dogged this franchise for years, leading up to last year’s mass exodus of stars.
“What motivates you to stay,” asked the questioner of a man who certainly didn’t have a rebuild in mind when he signed his seven-year, $49 million pact here two years ago.
“I love the city, I love the organization,” responded Kadri, before throwing cold water on the tired, old narrative.
“I feel like it’s super early to be asking these kind of questions, so I’m going to ask you guys to just pump the brakes a little bit.
“Let us go play. We’re going to try to rally around each other and surprise some people.”
Fair enough.
Sure, the questions are justified in a market decimated by departures, and sure to be hit by several more before this rebuild is on the upswing.
But, quite frankly, this wasn’t the day to be asking.
Sure, it remains a topic amongst fans and the media, who did indeed spend the dog days of the summer inventing trade rumours involving various vets on the club.
For now, the core of this mix of young and old includes Kadri and five other veterans who coach Ryan Huska will refer to endlessly as the year goes on.
They are the heartbeat of the team.
Inevitably there will be questions about their futures.
But, lord, they shouldn’t be at the forefront on Day 1 when optimism abounds league-wide.
Kadri is right, let’s let ’em play.
“I don’t really know why that narrative is still there, that’s probably more you guys than us,” said Huska when asked about Kadri’s future.
“He’s part of that leadership group of six. They are all very important players for us. They set the standard, and when you have them pushing the right way it’s easy for the young guys to follow suit.”
The leader of that group, Mikael Backlund, seriously contemplated leaving, before the allure of becoming captain and playing his 1,000th game in a city where he’ll continue to matter prompted him to re-up for another two years.
He’s all-in.
Of the other five, MacKenzie Weegar has emphatically pledged his unconditional dedication to honour his eight-year commitment to the club, making him a candidate for future captaincy.
Blake Coleman, the ultimate team guy, is also fiercely loyal and dedicated to the cause.
“We love it here,” said Coleman, with the sort of response management would probably love every player to echo to help put such talk to rest.
“It’s just the way I was raised. It’s one of those things when times get tough it kind of shows what kind of character you have and what you are made of.
“I like the guys that we have in our room – we have a lot of people I care about and some good friends and guys I want to find ways to succeed with.
“We all share that same drive and hunger to make this team better and, aside from the hockey, it’s a great place to live, a great place for raising families, and I’ve never really had anything bad to say about the city and about the way the organization has treated me and my family.
“Nothing would make me happier than to win in Calgary.”
Jonathan Huberdeau’s pricey contract is unmovable for now, which leaves Rasmus Andersson as the one who will have the most questions asked about whether he’ll consider extending his stay past next year.
But those are for another day.
On this day the focus should be around Dustin Wolf’s battle with Dan Vladar and Devin Cooley for dibs on crease duties.
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Or Martin Pospisil’s opening camp assignment, centring the top line between Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha.
Or whether Tyson Barrie can stick with a blueline bunch that has plenty of internal jockeying to do ahead of opening night.
Or whether Jakob Pelletier, Matt Coronato or another youngster can steal a job.
“If this team is going to have any success it starts with us (six),” said Backlund, who said as painful as the endless departures were the last two seasons, it was probably time for the organization to get younger.
“Two years ago we were one of the oldest teams in the league, and it was time to get in some young guys, and we did that last year. We got some good picks and had some good supporting young guys in the lineup.
“At the same time, we’re all here to win and we want to go through that and still be a competitive team to push for a playoff spot.”
Let’s give ’em that chance.
