The Colorado Avalanche stunned and delighted fans with a smashing trade deadline. The deals made convert the Avs into an even more powerful squad.
But along the way, there was plenty of intrigue regarding the deals that could have happened. While there doesn’t seem to be any indication that the Avalanche left trades on the table, some of the fallout suggests that some names moved around.
In particular, the trade for Nazem Kadri with the Calgary Flames went through a couple of different iterations. There was an original deal in place that fell through, but then reemerged late on Friday.
It was that original iteration of the Kadri trade that included a fan favorite. According to insider David Pagnotta, the Avalanche were looking to move Ross Colton purely out of financial necessity. The Avalanche needed to clear cap space to fit Kadri’s cap hit.
“There was some talk that they were looking to move Ross Colton in order to bring in somebody...making the money work.”
Of course, the player who went to Calgary was Victor Olofsson. For most, moving Olofsson was a surprise. It seemed much likelier that Colton, or even the recently acquired Nic Roy, could be on the move.
But that wasn’t the case, and the Avalanche ended up with a much deeper team.
Friedman confirms background details on Kadri deal
Another notable insider, Elliotte Friedman, provided additional insight into the dealings leading up to the Kadri trade.
The version in which an original deal was nixed is true. The Flames and Avalanche had a deal. The Avs then pivoted to Nic Roy, with the pieces in that trade being part of the original Kadri trade.
However, the Avalanche felt they could still swing the Kadri deal even after landing Roy. The deal initially included a 15% retention by the Flames. With Roy in the mix, the retention had to go up to 20%.
Interestingly, the Avalanche didn’t need to cough up Colton or other pieces. Yes, the deal cost the Avalanche Max Curran, arguably the club’s top prospect, but then again, it seems like a relatively small price to pay.
It’s also worth noting that the Kadri deal almost never happened for one simple reason. The deal got called in with minutes to spare before the 3 pm EST deadline. Thankfully, the trade call got in under the wire.
With everything that went on behind the scenes, it seems like the Avalanche and Kadri were meant to be together after all.