Leafs coach on red-hot Kadri: ‘You guys just want to anoint him, don’t you?’

If you like analogies, how about this one: Nazem Kadri is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ answer to Tony Romo.

No, this doesn’t mean he’s dating Jessica Simpson or Carrie Underwood. Instead, his head coach Randy Carlyle echoed Bill Parcells’ fun-killing line with this comment on Kadri’s hot streak to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

“You guys just want to anoint him, don’t you?” Carlyle said.

Parcells memorably said “put away the anointing oil” when Romo was experiencing his breakthrough Dallas Cowboys season in 2006.

(Let’s pause for inevitable jokes about Kadri throwing back-breaking interceptions/botching extra points.)

Kadri, 22, can relate to Romo in needing to persevere early in his career. His path is different,* but much like Romo, he’ll probably soon understand how it feels to have his highs and lows chronicled by a market obsessed with his sport.

The young forward has 23 points in 23 games after a one-goal, one-assist performance in Monday’s 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils. Kadri has produced four goals and five assists for nine points during a five-game point streak.

He might just have a chance to keep things rolling and become a fixture in Toronto like Romo is in Dallas. Let’s just hope he stays away from Los Cabos, Mexico, though.

* – Kadri was the seventh pick of the 2009 NHL Draft; Romo went undrafted and played for obscure Eastern Illinois in college.