Flames Must Trade Nazem Kadri

The Calgary Flames need to trade Nazem Kadri this season. The veteran center is playing in his age-35 season and his fourth season in Calgary, but he’s still looking to return to the postseason. The Flames have not made the playoffs since Kadri arrived for the 2022-2023 season.

The Flames are off to a horrendously poor start to the 2025-2026 campaign and it doesn’t seem like things will change any time soon. Despite the hope that they could turn things around in the second half, just like they did a year ago, they can’t rest on that. They have to make further changes and additions to their core, and that’s why they need to trade Kadri away as soon as possible.

The Flames' MO

The Flames have a pair of players that are highly sought after in the trade market this year in Kadri and defenseman Rasmus Andersson. It’s equally possible that they move both or retain both for a playoff push, but the market is only going to grow.

Moving Kadri makes a ton of sense for the Flames right now, however, because it follows their modus operandi. The way the organization has retooled over the last few seasons has been by sending out veteran players for younger ones right on the edge of breaking out or in need of a change of scenery.

In 2024, they traded star goalie Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils for a first-round draft pick and defender Kevin Bahl. Bahl just signed a long-term extension in Calgary and is one of their top-four defenders for the foreseeable future.

They also acquired a pair of young forwards in Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost from the Philadelphia Flyers last year in exchange for veteran winger Andrei Kuzmenko, disgruntled AHL forward Jakob Pelletier and a pair of draft picks.

A Kadri trade is likely to net a similar return. It won’t be a huge haul for Calgary, but they could feasibly bring in a younger NHL forward or defender and a draft pick for Kadri.