The thing about Kadri is that he's got serious competition in the C depth.
Assuming we don't sign Stamkos, there's already Bozak, Kadri, and Nylander in the C depth chart. If we draft #1 or #2, we're likely adding Matthews/Laine to that.
Kadri is > Bozak but Bozak costs less and is good at the 3C slot. If Kadri gets paid $5.25M AAV, he HAS to earn a spot in the top 2C slots.
If we have Nylander and Matthews/Laine in the system, and Kadri is signed 6-years, there's risk that you'll have no room for him down the line, and then it's a question of what value will he provide in 2-3 years versus now at the TD.
And all that doesn't even factor Stamkos signing here as a UFA. I know WE as fans have no real idea one-way-or-the-other what Stamkos will do, but I'm not naive enough to think there aren't back room negotiations going on.
Lamoriello and Shanahan will have at least some degree of insight on Stamkos' designs.
So if Stamkos, Nylander, Bozak, Laine/Matthews and Kadri are all in the mix, Kadri figures to be the odd man out, right?