Nazem Kadri's Training Camp (WJC)

As we all know the training camp for the Canadian Junior Hockey team is going on this week. Nazem Kadri is the only Maple Leafs representative at this camp and all Leafs’ fans are keenly looking at how he does with the top juniors in the world playing around him. I have for you a little update in regards to Nazem’s display at the camp so far.

He has been been tried with different players such as Taylor Hall and Kozun already and today with Taylor Hall and Nemisz. It seems the staff are keen on keeping Hall and Kadri on the same line and that’s fair after looking at the amount of skill between the two.

Now in regards to Kadri’s play at the camp he has been decent but not overly impressive. He has done most things right but is still making silly mistakes when they play mini games. This stuff can be ironed out as he participates more in this training camp but it’ll be a slight worry for the Canadian coaches. Nazem has had some trouble with maintaining built up offensive pressure due to his constant turnovers in his own zone.

There have been some positives though from Kadri as he has shown good playmaking abilities at the camp although none of it has shown in the actual games they’ve played. Although it seems that the coaches have seen enough positives to maintain their stance on where he will play in the upcoming World Junior Championships and that’s in the top two lines. Nazem has shown good finishing touch as well in some of the little drills they have run but nothing special that has stood out. Nazem has certainly improved with his fitness and seems like he’s putting in time at the gym for sure. His overall speed is excellent and it surely will help him in the NHL as he tries to accelerate past top defenseman.

I will make sure that Nazem’s progress in the training camp is blogged about here because it’s always nice to know what your top prospect is up to.