I have always been a Kadri supporter but I was really disappointed with what he did this time. He put his personal vendetta above the team's interest and it was an inexcusable selfish act. I somewhat defended his same boneheaded act last year as it was a retaliation for a headshot on Marner and thought he would learn from it, which unfortunately isn't the case.
Imagine in a prefect world he would be doing what DeBrusk was doing and more. He could be an effective agitator, play good defense and contribute offense. When given specific roles he had shown that he could be a vital piece of the core moving forward. This brings up the question that if he was put into situations where his usefulness was maximized.
He primarily was playing with 3rd strength wingers, Brown, Nylander, Marleau all of whom had subpar seasons for different reasons. Neither of these wingers was particularly strong defensively, and Kadri is not the type that can elevate the performance of his line mates. He had no specific roles and wasn't contributing as a member of the power play unit.
I would think if they're going to keep him him, they should find a strong defensive winger and give his line the specific role of shutting down the other team's offensive lines. It would have made favorable line matching if they had someone like a Komarov in his prime, they could put it out against the Bergeron line and free up the Marner line.
If they're going to trade him, they would need to get a 3rd line centre back or there'll be a black hole after the top two lines. Centre depth is a major weakness in the team structure and Nylander is not the answer. It'll be much easier to get a strong defensive winger with size and grit to play with him imo.