When the Flames signed forward Nazem Kadri as a free agent this past summer, they were expecting him to bring his career-high production from last season to Calgary. But Kadri has failed to replicate it and recent chatter has emerged that he could be traded out after the playoffs. So far in 2022-23, the veteran center has put up 51 points in 75 games, well below last season’s career-high 87 points with the Colorado Avalanche.
On top of that, there have been reports of a riff between he and head coach Darryl Sutter, which prompted Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman to point out Kadri had seen a recent reduction in his ice time.
While the veteran forward himself downplayed the chatter about this relationship with the bench boss, there remains doubts that he could be in the right place in Calgary…
One reader even asked The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek if the Flames would attempt to trade Kadri this summer.
Duhatschek is cautious in his answer but explains how expensive free agents happen to struggle with their new clubs in the first season of their new contracts.
“But the short answer on trading Kadri is “not yet.” And that’s mainly because what we’ve seen from Kadri this season is often typical of what you see from expensive free agents in their first year with new teams — they struggle to meet the expectations associated with the lucre of their new contracts (in Kadri’s case, a seven-year, $49 million deal). Often, in Year 2 after settling in, they show better results.”
But the main thing is that even if the Flames wanted to part ways with Kadri after just one season, his full no-movement clause would be a significant hurdle in the situation, along with the six years left on his contract at $7 million annually.
Got a feeling Kadri will stay put…
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