The largest remaining free agent on the open market officially has a new home. The Calgary Flames announced Thursday that forward Nazem Kadri had signed a 7yr/$49M contract with a $7M AAV.
The soon to be 32 year old is fresh off a Stanley Cup winning campaign with the Colorado Avalanche where he registered 87pts (28G, 59A) in 71 games. A two time 30 goal scorer, Kadri is the latest addition to a completely revamped Calgary offense which saw Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau leave in the offseason.
Replacing Tkachuk & Gaudreau’s 219pts worth of offense seemed like an impossible task, however Flames GM Brad Treliving has done an admirable job in acquiring Kadri, alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar to help Calgary retool on the fly.
Because of Kadri’s incoming cap hit, the Flames are currently working on a separate deal with the Montreal Canadiens to send forward Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens. Monahan has 1 year remaining on his 7yr/$44.625M contract which carries a $6.375M AAV.
The 6’2” centre was once thought of as the future in Calgary, however a series of hip injuries have derailed his once promising career. Monahan has spent the entirety of his 9 year NHL career with Calgary, posting a career high 82pts in 78 games in 2018-19.
While news of the Monahan deal broke following the Kadri signing, it’s still unclear who Calgary will be receiving in return, or what the full deal looks like. Rumours are currently circulating that another move could also be in the works which is why the Calgary/Montreal trade cannot yet be finalized.
More news to come.
Photo: Leafschik1967. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.