Over an hour after the NHL trade deadline passed, a deal leaked. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Colorado Avalanche completed a trade with the Calgary Flames for Nazem Kadri before the trade deadline bell rang. Kadri won the 2022 Stanley Cup in Colorado before signing with Calgary in free agency.
“Nazem Kadri back to the Colorado Avalanche,” Friedman reported exactly 60 minutes after the deadline passed. NHL's Central Registry department has a queue, and a trade is valid as long as it is submitted to that queue before 3 p.m. After waiting in line and going through the review process, the trade was reported.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN then confirmed the return.
“Kadri (20 percent retained) and a 4th RD pick '27 to Colorado for a conditional 1st, 2nd, [Victor Olofsson] and [Max] Curran,” LeBrun wrote.
Rumors swirled that the Avalanche were looking for a Kadri reunion. But after Colorado traded for Nicolas Roy, it was reported that Flames ownership stopped a trade that sent Kadri to the Avs. When all was said and done, the Avalanche got their guy.
This is the second consecutive season that the Avalanche have prioritized center depth at the NHL trade deadline. Last year, they picked up Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders and flipped Casey Middlestadt for Charlie Coyle. They were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Dallas Stars.
The Avalanche still have Nelson playing behind Nathan MacKinnon, and the gold medalist is on a 40-goal pace. But in the hours leading up to the deadline, they added two more centers to improve their depth. Centers were quite expensive at this year's deadline, and the Avalanche paid the price to land them.
