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Flames' Nazem Kadri Responds to Maple Leafs Trade Talk

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Jul 13, 2025 7:16 AM ET

Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri has broken his silence on the trade rumors linking him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a possible offseason move that would see him return to his first NHL team.

Kadri, however, killed the buzz quickly, calling the speculation “a little bit bizarre” while acknowledging he’s seen his name surface repeatedly in recent weeks.

“It’s happened quite often over the last couple months,” Kadri said on the "Knight Shift" podcast. “It’s a little bit bizarre scrolling around and seeing your face pop up and your name pop up.

“Obviously, the rumour mill is pretty strong, especially around these parts.”

MUST LISTEN!

Nazem Kadri was interviewed on the Knight Shift podcast and this is what he said when asked about the rumours of coming back to the #LeafsForever :

“It’s definitely a topic to talk about so why not talk about it”

ZERO DENIAL MODE!
NAZ IS SO DOWN TO COMEBACK pic.twitter.com/L66q5Xbo0T
— Aziz_Leafs (@aziz_leafs) July 12, 2025

Kadri spent the first 561 games of his NHL career in Toronto, scoring 357 points, including 161 goals. The center still holds a full no-movement clause, and as far as it's publicly known, he's not requested a trade out of Calgary.

The forward, however, added a bit of fuel to the fire by saying that while he’s aware the speculation and rumors are fan-driven, it’s a fun thing to discuss.

“There’s not a whole lot in terms of sports right now,” Kadri said. “I think it’s definitely a topic to talk about. Why not talk about it?”

As far as how real the whispers about a potential move from Calgary are, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman recently shut it down by denying the veracity of a few fabricated quotes related to Kadri and attributed to his name.

“They’re not in a hurry to trade Nazem Kadri right now,” Friedman said. “Not after he had such a fantastic season for them.”

Kadri is coming off scoring 35 goals and 67 points in 82 regular-season games, and has four years remaining on his current seven-year, $49 million contract, set at a $7 million annual cap hit.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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