Nazem Kadri (Arabic: ناظم كادري; born October 6, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Kadri was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs seventh overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft. He played his junior career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), first with the Kitchener Rangers and then the London Knights. He won the J. Ross Robertson Cup with Kitchener and was part of the Rangers team that lost to the Spokane Chiefs in the final of the 2008 Memorial Cup. Kadri won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022, becoming the first Muslim player to hoist the trophy.
Kadri has represented Canada internationally. He won a silver medal with Canada junior team in the 2010 World Junior Championships, where they lost in the final to the United States 6–5.
Kadri was born on October 6, 1990, in London, Ontario, the second of five children and the only son born to Samir and Suhayla Kadri. His grandparents were born in Kfar Danis, a mixed Muslim–Christian village in Lebanon, and moved to Ontario when Samir was four years old. Samir wanted to play hockey during his adolescence, but his family could not afford for their son to play. When Nazem was born, his father decided that he should have the opportunity to play the sport. Kadri began ice skating at the age of two, joined his first hockey team when he was four years old, and was playing at the elite level within the next two years. The Kadri family also attended National Hockey League (NHL) games; despite living in Southwestern Ontario, they supported the Montreal Canadiens.
Kadri was a successful hockey, basketball, and volleyball player, first at Jack Chambers Public School and later at A. B. Lucas Secondary School. By the end of his high school career, Kadri was fairly certain that he would be selected in the NHL draft. He also played minor ice hockey in the London Jr. Knights system of the Alliance Hockey organization, serving as team captain at multiple minor levels.
Kadri began his Ontario Hockey League (OHL) career with the Kitchener Rangers after being selected in the first round, 18th overall, of the 2006 OHL draft. During his second season in the OHL, he played 68 games, recording 25 goals and 40 assists for 65 points. During that year's playoffs, Kadri helped the Rangers to an OHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup final, where they lost to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
After the 2007–08 season, Kadri was traded to the London Knights (his hometown team) in exchange for several draft picks. He played in 56 games for the Knights in 2008–09, recording 25 goals and 53 assists for 78 points. Kadri was sidelined during the 2008–09 season when he suffered a broken jaw, and was unable to play for Team OHL in the 2008 ADT Canada Russia Challenge. Kadri was later invited to Canada junior team's selection camp for the 2009 World Junior Championships but did not make the final roster. Also during the 2008–09 season, Kadri was chosen to play in the OHL All-Star Classic, where he suited-up for the Western Conference and scored one goal.
After the 2008–09 OHL season, Kadri was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, seventh overall, of the 2009 NHL entry draft. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the club on July 6, 2009.
After being cut from the Maple Leafs, Kadri returned to play for the Knights in the OHL. He was selected to play for Team OHL in the 2009 Subway Super Series (renamed from the ADT Canada Russia Challenge). He was also selected to represent the Western Conference in the 2009–10 OHL All-Star Classic, his second appearance in the OHL's All-Star Game in as many seasons. On March 30, 2010, Kadri was named the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Player of the Week after recording nine points (two goals and seven assists) in three games. The OHL named Kadri the league's Player of the Month for March 2010, a month in which he recorded 26 points (9 goals and 17 assists) in 10 games.
Toronto Maple Leafs (2009–2019)
Kadri attended training camp with the Maple Leafs prior to the 2009–10 season. He played in six pre-season games with the club, in which he recorded three goals and two assists. Then-Toronto head coach Ron Wilson had said prior to training camp that Kadri would need to be one of the team's top-six forwards to make the club; Kadri was ultimately returned to the Knights prior to the start of the NHL regular season. Due to injuries to forwards Christian Hanson and Fredrik Sjöström, Kadri was called-up to the Maple Leafs under an emergency basis, making his NHL debut on February 8, 2010, against the San Jose Sharks. He did not register any points and finished with a −1 plus-minus rating while playing on a line with fellow rookie Viktor Stålberg and veteran Lee Stempniak. This was a one-game-only call-up, and he subsequently returned to the London Knights following the game. Ron Wilson said that he would most likely be with the Maple Leafs for the 2010–11 season, though this was in doubt after comments made by both Wilson and then-Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke during the pre-season, indicating that Kadri had not played to the level they expected and was "running out of time" to prove himself.
In addition, Burke was traditionally a strong supporter of rookies gaining experience at the American Hockey League (AHL) level prior to NHL careers. Kadri was included in the Maple Leafs' last round of cuts, and was subsequently sent to the AHL's Toronto Marlies for the start of the season. However, on November 12, Kadri was called-up by the Maple Leafs (along with fellow prospect Keith Aulie). On November 16, in a game against the Nashville Predators, Kadri recorded his first NHL point, assisting on a goal by Kris Versteeg. Two days later, on November 18, Kadri recorded his first multi-point night with two assists in a game against the New Jersey Devils. On March 19, 2011, against goaltender Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins, Kadri scored his first career NHL goal.
Kadri was named to the AHL All-Star Game in 2012.
Prior to 2012–13 season, Kadri began training under former NHL player and Maple Leaf Gary Roberts over the summer to gain muscle and "play more explosively". On January 19, 2013, when NHL play resumed after the 2012–13 NHL lockout cancelled much of the first half of the scheduled regular season, Kadri made the starting roster for the Maple Leafs in their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens. He would score the first Maple Leafs goal of the season with a powerplay mark assisted by Phil Kessel against goaltender Carey Price. Kadri finished the game named the game's first star. One month later, on February 19, in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Kadri had his first NHL fight, engaging with Tampa Bay defenceman Victor Hedman. With the Maple Leafs losing 4–1 late in the game, Hedman delivered a cross-check to the back of Kadri, who then confronted the 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) defenceman. Punches were then exchanged before teammates and officials broke up the fight. On February 28, in a 5–4 win against the New York Islanders, Kadri scored his first career hat-trick. On March 30, he scored his second career hat-trick, and second of the season, in a 4–0 win over the Ottawa Senators. He would finish the season with 18 goals and 26 assists, finishing second only to Phil Kessel for the team lead in points and goals as the Maple Leafs as a team clinched the fifth seed in the East to cement a playoff spot for the first time since 2004. On May 4, Kadri scored his first Stanley Cup playoff point, recording an assist on a goal by Kessel after Kadri sprung him on a breakaway. On May 13, he scored his first playoff goal against the Boston Bruins in game 7. Despite the Leafs having a 4–1 goal lead half way in the third period of the seventh game, the Leafs would lose game seven to the fourth-seeded Bruins in overtime 5–4 with Bruins' centre Patrice Bergeron scoring the series winning goal in the extra overtime period.