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New head coach Mike Babcock brought in the elements for the team to “play the right way” and “structure” not seen before. But what does it all mean?

“That’s been our safety valve,” said Leafs centre Nazem Kadri prior to Saturday’s game. “We have a system in place that when things get tough we don’t panic.”

Kadri has been one of the focal points of the Leafs turnaround.

Currently on a one-year contract, Kadri has been given every opportunity to excel in high-demand positions. He was placed on the Leafs’ top line to start the season and stills finds himself there, despite the consistent play of former No. 1 centre Tyler Bozak.

“He’s earned the right to play in those situations,” Babcock said of Kadri. “You earn the right to play against those players and, eventually, those players will be playing against you.”

Kadri went through the longest scoring drought of his career as he adapted to Babcock’s system. He went 15 games without a goal, all while continuing to sit in the top-five in the league in shots on goal. Now his offence is starting to come back; Kadri has four goals and 11 points in his last 11 games.

“He’s playing way better. Every 10 games he’s improved drastically,” said Babcock. “To me, he’s being rewarded a little bit, which is positive. It’s not how I measure him. He’s played against (John) Tavares and (Sidney) Crosby for three nights and he was good on two of them.”