Maple Leafs to hold Kadri out two more games

TORONTO -- Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri will not play in their next two games, team president Brendan Shanahan announced Wednesday.

Kadri, 24, was late for a team meeting Sunday and was made a healthy scratch for the Maple Leafs game Monday against the New York Islanders. In announcing Kadri will also miss the game Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres and Friday against the Calgary Flames, Shanahan made clear there were other factors in the discipline.

"We have told him if things go well he'll be available for Saturday's game against Vancouver," Shanahan said. "There's more to this obviously than if this was just a case of Nazem being 15 minutes late for a meeting one time. The easiest thing for us to do at this point would be to sweep this under the rug and put this off until the offseason to deal with it, but Nazem is an important part of our future.

"We like Nazem Kadri and his teammates like him. We expect a certain level of professionalism and it's time for him to start making better decisions. There is a history here and there comes a point where you've got to grow up. Nazem is 24 now. This is not a thing where we felt it would benefit him if we swept it under the rug."

Shanahan said he has asked Kadri to work hard. He said he explained the decision, which was made along with general manager Dave Nonis and the coaching staff, to Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and the alternate captains, and he wants them to not talk about it but instead concentrate on the game against the Sabres.

"There is a maturing process that happens for all NHL players and Nazem is at a point now where we expect him to be a little more disciplined," Shanahan said. "We need this to be a real learning moment (for Kadri)."

"I wouldn't say he is at a crossroads," interim coach Peter Horachek said. "It's just time for him to move forward and do the right things and mature to a point where we expect him to be at this stage of his career."

Maple Leafs left wing Joffrey Lupul did address the issue, saying he hopes Kadri learns from his mistakes.

"Before this gets blown out of proportion, I want people to know Nazem is a good teammate and he is well-liked in our room," Lupul said. "This is part of the maturation process."