In not so many words Thursday afternoon, Ron Wilson made it pretty clear.

Barring injuries, Nazem Kadri will start the season in the American League with the Marlies.

With Kris Versteeg away in Chicago for the Blackhawks Stanley Cup ring ceremony on Wednesday night, Kadri found himself playing the wall with Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel. He scored twice and added an assist in the Leafs 4-3 victory over Ottawa, displaying the spark he's been missing for most of camp.

Asked Thursday afternoon if he’d be opposed to keeping Kadri on the wall, Wilson replied, “Well he’s not right now better than the four wingers he’s really subbing for.”

Currently those four wingers would be Versteeg, Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin and Clarke MacArthur, each of whom has impressed the coaching staff at different points in the preseason. While Kadri does in fact get another opportunity on Friday in Detroit, he’ll do so in place of MacArthur, who is out with a minor groin injury.

The top two centre jobs have for intents and purposes been sewn up by Bozak and Mikhail Grabovski, all of which leaves Kadri on the outside looking in.

“He’s not a third line or a fourth line guy,” Wilson said of Kadri, “so do the math and figure that out for yourself.”