Nazem Kadri was traded back to the Colorado Avalanche by the Calgary Flames on Friday.
The Flames received forward Victor Olofsson, unsigned forward prospect Maxmilian Curran, a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Colorado also received a fourth-round pick in the 2027 draft.
“Obviously super excited,” Kadri told TSN. “You know, a team at the very top of my list. Man, I can’t wait.”
The 35-year-old forward has 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 61 games for the Flames this season. He is in the fourth season of a seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million average annual value) he signed with the Flames on Aug. 18, 2022; Calgary retained 20 percent of his remaining salary.
Selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round (No. 7) of the 2009 NHL Draft, Kadri has 751 points (319 goals, 432 assists) in 1,046 regular-season games for the Maple Leafs, Avalanche and Flames.
“Nazem’s one of those guys that you really like. He was great though the whole process, too,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said. “He’s a competitive guy. He wants to win at his age. He wants another opportunity. For him to actually be able to go back to Colorado, I think it’s kind of a dream come true probably for him. For us, we knew where we’re going and with his age, this is something we needed to do.”
Kadri has 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 52 Stanley Cup Playoff games and won the Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.
“One minute you think you’re out the door, and the next minute you think you’re staying, and the next minute you think you’re out, and you’re staying again. It’s a lot of flip-flopping,” Kadri said. “These deals aren’t easy to come by. You have to have two working parties. At the end of the day I found out pretty late and I was excited, to say the least.”
Colorado (41-10-9) is first in the NHL standings and six points ahead of the Dallas Stars in the Central Division. The Avalanche visit the Stars on Friday (8 p.m. ET; Victory+, ALT).
“I mean, is this real?” Kadri said. “For me, it’s a very exciting situation. I mean, first and foremost, I’ve got to thank the Calgary Flames and how they handled business and how they treated a veteran player and found every way possible to try to make this connection for me. Without them this couldn’t be possible, and there’s no doubt in my mind in a couple years the Calgary Flames are going to be a popular destination to play in. You know, I just can’t wait to get to work and see my buddies.”
The Flames (24-30-7) are 15th in the Western Conference, 12 points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card.
“The whole thing is to get back in the playoffs, to get going in the right direction and have these assets and the picks,” Conroy said. “Whether we make the picks or, like I said yesterday, if we could just use the pick to get players, we’re going to look at all options, so I think this is important to continue to bring in assets. We’re trying to get this thing going in the right direction as quick as possible and right now we’re not where we want to be.”
