Flames Rumors: Kadri In Favour Of Move To Eastern Contender

It's not a certainty that Nazem Kadri will be traded at the deadline or even this summer, but the heavy interest is there from teams desperate for a top-6/second line center with experience. The free agent market is never that good and teams will have to greatly overpay for someone if one is available.

This is where the Calgary Flames come in. The team is near the bottom of the league and for the next couple of seasons, they aren't going to compete. Dustin Wolf is good, but will likely get better, but the rest of the young players still need time as they haven't hit their primes yet.

To speed up the process, Kadri is a great piece to move with all of the interest and value the Flames can get out of him. The 35-year-old is under contract for three more years at $7 million AAV, so if a team wants some value before he starts falling off more and the Flames want the best value they're going to get, a trade should be imminent.

David Pagnotta said, "While there's legitimate concern around how well his contract will age...the fact he would be in favour of a move to the Habs, according to league sources, should bring a measure of comfort."

The Montreal Canadiens are searching for a stable second line center, and if they trade for Kadri, have a replacement or a few that can have time to grow into the role. Since the Flames aren't in full rebuild mode or on the latter half of a more unintentional rebuild, they would want at least one player back in the trade. This could end up being Kirby Dach or Oliver Kapanen, along with other assets, and maybe there will even be a little cap retention to bring down that $7 million to somewhere between $5-$6 million AAV.

Kadri has 10 goals and 39 points in 52 games. Kapanen has done a solid job as a 22-year-old in the second line center role this season and the health of Dach and Alex Newhook haven't been there this season to put more pressure on him. Kapanen might be someone the Canadiens don't want to move in the deal, but prospects like Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky will be off limits too. The Canadiens will remain one of the top candidates in the running for Kadri until he's moved, but they aren't the only team in need of someone like him.