Flames' Kadri Linked To Third Central Division Team

There are three teams in the Central Division with a high chance of having any chance in the playoffs and making it out of the West. These are the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild. All three ranked in the top three teams in the league at one point and are all very good.

The Wild have already made a large move in bringing in Quinn Hughes, so they are all in for this season and next. But they still need an upgrade at center to be able to match up with the other two top teams in their division. There is a very high chance that only one of those top teams are making it to even the conference finals, so all of them will be making upgrades and doing what they can to go all the way.

The Avalanche and Stars have already been linked to Calgary Flames' trade candidate Nazem Kadri, but the Wild are now too. Frank Seravalli wonders about Kadri as a trade option for the Wild as the center depth is Ryan Hartman, Joel Eriksson Ek, Danila Yurov, and Nico Sturm. Hartman could easily be the third line center and Yurov moved to the wing if he's not a piece included in acquiring Kadri.

The Wild have some cap space, but would have to send some money back in order to make a deal work. The Flames aren't likely to retain too much cap on Kadri if they are to trade him this season with three full years left on his deal at $7 million. The most I could see is $1.5 million retained, which gives the Wild or another team $5.5 million AAV to clear.

Kadri could be a great addition and the perfect one for the Wild for the next few years to compete in their division with the competition. Eriksson Ek as the top line center, Kadri as the second line center, and however the rest plays out after a trade allows them to compete with the top teams.

Kadri isn't having an amazing year offensively, but that comes with the offensively-challenged Flames he plays for. He has nine goals and 34 points in 51 games and is the top line center, but he leads the team in points and leads the forwards in ice time per game with the next closest over a minute behind him. With where the Flames are, it makes more sense to trade Kadri than keep him and continue to rebuild. The Wild will be one of the teams with the best chance to land Kadri if he's traded, but it seems like Kadri is headed to the Central Division.