The Colorado Avalanche are one team who has been linked to their former player Nazem Kadri as we inch closer to the 2026 trade deadline. They aren’t alone when it comes to Central Division teams potentially interested in his services. Rumors have floated recently that the Central’s Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild are interested in the 35-year-old.
I’m not sure that the Avalanche are willing to part with what might need to be sent to Calgary in a trade, especially given that whoever acquires him is on the hook for his contract over the next couple of years.
The Avalanche’s center depth could certainly be improved, but as it stands right now, the guys after Nathan MacKinnon and their cap hits are as follows: Brock Nelson ($7.5 million), Jack Drury ($1.725 million, and Zakhar Bardakov ($867,500). So, the question is, would Kadri’s $7 million cap hit over the next four years be worth it? It’s a tough question because another question you have to ask yourself is whether or not this season’s regression is something to expect going forward or if it is just one of those down years that almost every player is accustomed to.
Through 54 games, Kadri has nine goals and 25 assists, which isn’t too bad of a stat line. However, as a second-line player, I would hope that he had more than nine goals in over half of a season. If Kadri ended up on the Avalanche again, he would be tied with defenseman Brent Burns in goals (as it stands now). Burns is seventh on the Avs in goals and second on the team for defensemen, though that’s hardly a surprise given that #1 is Cale Makar and Devon Toews has been out due to injury for a while now.
So, why is Kadri destined for the Central Division? Well, it comes down to the fact that multiple teams in the division are reportedly interested in his services. Me? I’d say let them have him. There’s no guarantee that he’ll shine with a new team. But, if he does, then the question is how long will it last? Like I mentioned earlier, the team who acquires him would have to eat $7 million in cap space because of his contract, and in the NHL, that’s a decently high number for a player, especially one in his mid-30s and nearing the end of his career.
The Avalanche also have to think about Cale Makar’s upcoming extension as next year is the final year on his current contract at $9 million. He’ll surely get to see more than that when Chris MacFarland and him sit down to talk numbers. It almost automatically makes Kadri to the Avalanche a non-possibility.
Avalanche fans would hope that, if he does end up in the Central Division, he’ll end up not fitting in quite as well as anticipated (think Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes). That would probably be the best-case scenario for the Avalanche if they don’t end up acquiring him themselves. The obvious connection between Kadri and the Stars is that he’d be rejoining Rantanen as the two of them played with each other in Colorado.
I also don’t think that the Avalanche would go after Kadri and his cap hit because they re-signed Brock Nelson to a pretty large contract. If Kadri were to end up with the Avalanche, it probably would only happen if that extension didn’t happen, in my opinion.