Gang, it’s summer, and perhaps it’s because of the heat or because people are antsy for something to happen, sometimes weird trade rumours emerge during the dog days of the off-season. And often, the rumours don’t make very much sense.

It is in this context that we should discuss the persistent trade rumours involving Calgary Flames centre Nazem Kadri, and how little sense they make for Kadri or for the Flames as a hockey club.

For those just joining us, here’s the gist of things:

• Kadri joined the Flames during the tumultuous 2022 off-season, signing a seven year deal with a $7 million cap hit the same day the Flames traded Sean Monahan and a first-round pick to Montreal to clear the cap space.
• Via PuckPedia: Kadri’s deal includes a full no-move clause in the first four seasons (2022-26) that converts to a modified no-trade clause in the final three years (2026-29), which takes the form of a 13 team no-trade list.
• Kadri turns 35 in October and he’s one of the club’s alternate captains and part of the group of seven veterans that head coach Ryan Huska has praised for their leadership.
• There are occasional rumblings in Toronto media – we’ve seen it mentioned by Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos in columns and on his radio show – about Kadri being someone that other teams would want to acquire. (And those rumblings have, over time, seemingly taken on a life of their own.)

So why does Kadri being traded not make a ton of sense right now?

The Flames want to make the playoffs in 2025-26

Yeah, the Flames and their players saw how little the hockey world thought of them during the 2024 off-season. And after a chaotic 2023-24 season that saw the team dismantled on the fly out of contractual necessity, there was a sense of “Let’s see how good we can actually be” in the Flames locker room during 2024’s training camp.

A team that was expected by the odds-makers to finish with 81 points and land sixth from the bottom came within the regulation win tiebreaker of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. Heck, they tied the NHL record for most points earned by a non-playoff team.

The Flames are hellbent on finding ways to get a little bit better in 2025-26, and moving Kadri would fly in the face of that philosophy.

(Yes, friends, we’re aware that Gavin McKenna exists. We’re aware that there’s a certain logic to selling off this season in particular to maximize the chances of adding McKenna in the draft. The Flames don’t feel the same way and are hoping to continue their upward progression.)

Speaking of…

The Flames rarely part ways with their leading scorer

The Flames have played 52 seasons in the National Hockey League. Of the 51 instances, prior to 2024-25, of a player leading the Flames in points, they’ve returned in the fall with their leading point-scorer back all but three times.

The exceptions were:

• 1985, when they traded Kent Nilsson at the draft after essentially reaching their wits end with his defensive challenges
• 2022, when Johnny Gaudreau hit free agency and went to Columbus
• 2023, when Tyler Toffoli was traded to New Jersey as he entered the final year of his contract

That’s it. There were a few other situations where the Flames traded their previous season’s points leader during the following season, but those were usually situations like Theo Fleury or Jarome Iginla being traded at the trade deadlines on expiring contracts.

Teams just don’t trade their leading scorer, especially if that scorer has term left on their contract, willy-nilly.

The Flames don’t have enough centre depth

The Flames are entering the 2025-26 with a pair of established veteran centres in Kadri, who’s 34, and Mikael Backlund, who’s 36. Kadri takes the offensive situations, while Backlund is in a shutdown role. And while Morgan Frost is younger and trying to establish himself, he’s not there yet. And that’s the entire list of Flames players that have played full NHL seasons at centre.

In short: even if there was some desire to move Kadri at some point in the near future, the centre depth isn’t there right now. In a year, maybe Frost has found his rhythm and his role seems clearer. Perhaps someone like Connor Zary has made the move to centre full-time. Heck, maybe we’ll see some progression from some of the newly-drafted centres like Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter or Theo Stockselius that they need to make room. But the Flames need to get to the point where the kids are just about ready first.

The general trend under Craig Conroy has been moving out veterans, gradually, to make room for youngsters when there’s a fresh face ready for the veteran’s role. Andrew Mangiapane’s trade opened up space for Matt Coronato. Jacob Markstrom’s trade opened up a spot for Dustin Wolf. And the widely-expected Rasmus Andersson trade would, in theory, make some room for someone like Zayne Parekh or Hunter Brzustewicz.

The Flames have some exciting youngsters on the way, including some fun young centres. But they’ll need some time to get ready. Right now, moving out Kadri – if that’s something Kadri even wants – would be premature and counterproductive to the Flames’ stated goals. No matter what the chatter from Toronto or Montreal might say.