At long last, Nazem Kadri has signed a contract.
The NHL’s free agent frenzy typically sees the biggest available names come flying off the board as soon as they are able to sign. For Kadri, however, that was not the case.
After weeks of speculation, the 2022 Stanley Cup champion is joining the Calgary Flames. First of all, what an offseason this has been for the Flames. They lost two of their best players, then added one of the league’s top scorers, and now they’ve got a newly crowned champion.
I can’t think of any offseason for any team that has been the roller coaster on which Calgary has embarked in the last six weeks.
Kadri to the Flames makes a ton of sense.
The wait will be well worth it for both Kadri and the Flames, and there is one key reason why this will be a match made in heaven: Kadri won’t have to be the top center.
Last year with the Colorado Avalanche, he thrived as the team’s second center. He benefitted from the talent around him, both in terms of their talent being an asset to him and them taking on the biggest matchups while leaving him in favorable positions.
Things should be similar in Calgary, as Elias Lindholm will center the top line, leaving Kadri to take on a role that treated him very well last season.
My biggest concern with Kadri is that he has been inconsistent offensively in his career, which could have led to a massive overpay and unreasonably high expectations. While he will have to prove that he is worth the seven-year, $49 million deal that he got, he’s in a perfect position.
I expect him to have another tremendous individual season, which is an obvious win for both him and the Flames.
For Calgary, they had to trade away Sean Monahan to make the Kadri deal work, but I think that will prove to be well worth it. It’s hard to imagine, but this group is better than the one that won the Pacific Division last season.
The expectations will be sky-high for the Flames after signing Nazem Kadri, and despite all of the twists and turns that this offseason has taken, I think they’re prepared to live up to those expectations.