Ladies and gentlemen, hockey fans of all ages: After weeks of speculation, the biggest remaining fish of the free agency market has been reeled in. Nazem Kadri is on the move, snared by a massive 7-year, $49 million contract. Are choppier seas ahead for him? Can he have the same impact as last year? Can he stay healthy?
The Details
Where is he going you may ask? For weeks upon weeks, the Colorado Avalanche themselves and the New York Islanders were thought to be in contention. Would Lou Lamoriello, President of the New York Islanders, finally land his coveted prize? This is coming after letting standout defenseman Devon Toews walk to Colorado for literal pennies on the dollar? With weeks of silence commencing, everyone thought: The Islanders would work to clear more cap space. The Isles were one of the few teams with the initial cap space needed to sign Kadri. So why on God’s green earth is Kadri on his way to the Calgary Flames of all teams? Where did they come from? Let’s break it down.
The Flames, a team that has seen limited success throughout the years, are re-gearing. Additionally, watching longtime core members Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau walk for greener pastures, they realized something needed to be done. They have already begun to reshape their future. Adding big names like Mackenzie Weegar and Johnathan Huberdeau was a start. Something however was missing. They need one more piece. Scoring? Check. Chemistry? Check. Grit?
The Deal
Correspondingly, in a flurry of moves on the morning of August 18, 2022, the Flames sent Sean Monahan and a 2025 first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens to clear the room to sign Kadri. Monahan, who is on the last of a 7-year, $44.6 million dollar deal has a cap hit of around $6,300,000 this year. This move is genius.
The Impact
With Calgary saying their goodbyes to longtime standouts Tkachuk and Gaudreau, many had them pegged on the losing end of the offseason. Despite getting great pieces in return for Tkachuk in Huberdeau and Weegar, there were still questions. How would they fit Daryl Suter’s system? Nazem Kadri has answered those questions. They actually improved points-wise despite losing 3 longtime vital members of the team.
Calgary clearly needed some grit as well, and Kadri clearly brings it. Based on what I saw from him over the course of his stint in Colorado, Kadri should thrive under Suter’s defensive-based, counter-attacking scheme he has worked hard to instill. It is eerily similar to Colorado’s scheme at times. The Colorado Avalanche averaged 3.76 goals per game last year. The Flames averaged 3.55. He should also be a monster on Calgary’s power play. Calgary had a power play percentage of 22.9% last year, being among the 10 best teams in the league at drawing them. To put this into perspective, the Avalanche drew powerplays at a clip of nearly 24%, the 7th best in the league. Not a huge drop.
After proverbially laying over and dying against Edmonton after blitzing them 9-6 game 1, Calgary brings in the very man who gave the city of Edmonton fits until the blatant board that saw him shelved until the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Fallout
I waited to release this piece, as I wanted all immediate emotions out of it as an Avs fan. It stung a bit at first. But Kadri absolutely deserves this. The contract, the chance to be the guy on what should be a very good Calgary team, he deserves every last bit of it. Pacific Division fans will now get to see Kadri and Kane go after each other four times a year at least, which given their history, should be an absolute treat.
I for one, am forever grateful for what he brought back to the city of Denver, passion for passionate hockey. He will be intrinsically always linked to mile high. From the bubble heroics against the Blues, to the hat trick, to the OT cup finals game-winner, and countless other moments generated from pure grit and sheer determination, I wish him nothing but the best. The City of Denver will always #StandwithNaz.
Emotions Aside:
Obviously, from the Avalanche’s perspective, it made sense. After watching Kadri have himself a career year, as well as his first-ever All-Star selection, which given the format in the NHL, is very hard to do, they say goodbye to a man who will be 32 next year. I can’t imagine Sakic paying someone, even someone as prolific as Kadri 7 million at the time of their 39th birthday. 39 is closer to 80 in hockey-years. To put that into a bit of perspective, the top oldest players in the league as of the 2022 season were as follows:
- Zdeno Chara (44 years old)
- Joe Thornton (42 years old)
- Craig Anderson (40 years old)
- Mark Giordano (39 years old)
- Andy Greene (39 years old)
- Mike Smith (39 years old)
Calgary will be a spot in which Kadri will thrive, and deservedly ride off into the sunset. He is finally getting paid what he is owed after locking down the all-important Stanley Cup. As for the Avs, how does this shake up the team? Who, if anyone, will they go after for the 2nd center position? As always, comments are welcome!
I hope everyone enjoyed the read.
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