Dark horse now enters Nazem Kadri sweepstakes minutes before market opening!

The Colorado Avalanche made a last pitch the star forward Nazem Kadri, however, the feeling is that he will test the market at noon today. Earlier on Wednesday, insider Darren Dreger reported that the Avs are attempting one more time to retain the top forward.

There have been speculations that Kadri could land a minimum of $8 million per season on his next deal, but that number could go as high as $10 million. Last week on the “Real Kyper and Bourne” podcast, Nick Kypreos mentioned the Boston Bruins being one of his suitors, along with the Arizona Coyotes and Seattle Kraken.

However, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan is now reporting that a dark horse has entered the race as the Calgary Flames are getting in the mix less than two hours ahead of market opening at noonET. 

The Flames were informed last night by star forward Johnny Gaudreau that he would not return to Calgary. Gaudreau is coming off his most productive season, putting up career-high numbers in 2021-22, scoring 40 goals and 75 assists while posting a league-best plus-64 rating and tallying nine game-winning goals. He also got 14 points during a 12-game playoff run for Calgary and we get why GM Brad Treliving is set on finding a qualified replacement for the hole Gaudreau leaves on the Flames’ roster.

Kadri registered a career-high 87 points last season, and put up 15 points in 16 games in the playoffs en route to a Stanley Cup victory.

The Flames currently have no cap space though once the market opens they have expiring on the NHL roster include Matthew Tkachuk ($7 million), Gaudreau ($6.75 million), Erik Gudbranson ($1.95 million), Nikita Zadorov ($3.75 million), Andrew Mangiapane ($2.425 million), Michael Stone ($750,000), Oliver Kylington ($750,00) and a few others, per Cap Friendly. With that, there is hope that they could afford a significant signing and we understand how the Flames are taking a risk and jumping into the Kadri sweepstakes.

To be continued…