The Calgary Flames may have lost Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, but they certainly aren’t rebuilding. The team is now expected to sign free agent forward Nazem Kadri, according to several reports including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The team is expected to trade Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens to clear cap space. Friedman adds that the contract will be for seven years at $7M per season.
Kadri, 31, came into the summer as one of the top free agents on the market after an incredible season with the Colorado Avalanche that included a career-high 87 points and resulted in a Stanley Cup championship. It’s not often a player of that caliber sits on the open market for more than a month but it appears as though the Flames and general manager Brad Treliving are going to be the beneficiaries. Kadri comes to town along with Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, completely changing the look of the team and essentially replacing the production of Gaudreau and Tkachuk.
The issue some will point to is the age of the two-way pivot, who will turn 32 in October, and how he had never really come close to his 2021-22 level of production previously. While that is true, Kadri also offers some things outside his overall offensive production that can make him a valuable part of the team. A strong defensive player who has received Selke Trophy votes on three occasions, he is also willing to engage physically and has had a knack for scoring at clutch moments. Avalanche fans will fondly remember his first playoff run with the team when he led all postseason players with five game-winning goals in just 15 appearances.
Of course, as good as those two performances were, you can’t discuss Kadri without mentioning his other postseason escapades. Three times he has been suspended in the playoffs, arguably costing his team a chance at advancing. While he can say that part of his game is behind him, the most recent incident was just a year ago, and there’s no guarantee he won’t do something to jeopardize his team again in the future.
Still, adding a player like this to the mix keeps the Flames’ competitive window wide open, at least for the next couple of seasons. The Huberdeau extension and this long-term deal for Kadri will likely not end well, though, with the salary cap expected to increase significantly down the road, they at least will get some relief.
One other thing that might be brought up is how Kadri blocked a trade to the Flames just a few years ago, when the Maple Leafs tried to send him west in exchange for T.J. Brodie. The London, Ontario native explained that decision earlier this year in a piece for the Player’s Tribune, saying that it had nothing to do with Calgary and everything to do with trying to stay in Toronto, where he wanted to win. The Maple Leafs would end up sending him to Colorado, a team he couldn’t block, and signed Brodie in free agency instead.
The only way the Flames can afford a player like Kadri is by moving out considerable salary, and that’s what a Monahan trade represents. The 27-year-old forward has a $6.375M cap hit for next season and has completely fallen off a cliff in terms of production over the last few years. Once a consistent 30-goal, 60-point center, Monahan had just eight goals and 23 points in 65 games this year while seeing his ice time drop to just 14 minutes a night. Injury has hampered his game significantly, and there’s no telling at this point if he’ll ever get back to being a top-six contributor.
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