Buds Board Keepers League

The names Cody Franson and Nazem Kadri may inspire panic in certain parts of Leafs Nation, but there are no signs of any Toronto Maple Leafs executives running about as if their hair is on fire.

Both players are restricted free agents and neither is close to signing a new contract, hence the panic. Leafs general manager David Nonis politely declined to discuss the matter in detail Wednesday, but he did give a strong impression he is managing to sleep well.

This is not to say getting both players signed with only $4.9-million (U.S.) left under next season’s salary cap of $64.3-million will be a piece of cake. But Nonis has options, which include starting the 2013-14 NHL season one or even two players under the 23-man roster limit. Plus, training camp is almost a month away, with the deadline for getting to the payroll limit even farther out.

The key player in this poker game is Kadri. He is younger than Franson (22, compared to 26) and has much-less NHL experience at 99 career games, compared to four full seasons for the defenceman. Both blossomed last season, with Kadri running up 44 points in 48 games as the No. 2 centre, while Franson led Leafs’ blueliners in points (29).

Kadri is coming off his entry-level contract, which was a hit of $1.72-million on the salary cap last season, compared to Franson’s $1.2-million.

By all accounts, Kadri wants a big raise and a long-term contract, one that reflects the star quality he has showed from time-to-time. In 99 NHL games, Kadri has 26 goals and 37 assists, respectable numbers but hardly ones that merit an immediate bump to, say, $4-million a year.

At this point, Nonis can produce a little more than $6-million in cap space by keeping only one of Paul Ranger or Korbinian Holzer as a spare defenceman and going with no extra forwards. But the majority of that cap space is ticketed for Franson.