Avs beat writer reveals what's holding up the Nazem Kadri deal

I think many had expected that, when free agency had opened up on July 13th, Nazem Kadri would be one of the first names off the board with a significant max-term contract worth anywhere between $8M-$9M per season. Well, here we are on day 4 of free agency and Naz remains a UFA and there appear to me more questions than answers at this point.

Well, thanks to Peter Baugh, Colorado Avalanche beat writer for The Athletic, we now have some insight as to what the hold-up is on a Kadri deal. Baugh is reporting on Saturday that Kadri spent some time reviewing deals and weeding out offers from teams who he views as non-contenders. Of the teams who remain in the race for Kadri, there is a hard push to clear enough cap space to fit Kadri in under the cap.


Kadri literally could not have picked a better time to absolutely pop off, doing so in a contract year and winning the Stanley Cup as well, which should certainly maximize his value and earning potential on the open market. Kadri had 87 points in just 71 games last season. He also added 15 points in 16 playoff games for the Avs en route to their first Cup since 2001.


The London, ON native is coming off of an absolute sweetheart deal that he signed with the Leafs back in April of 2016 - a 6-year, $27M deal that carried a $4.5M cap hit. This is Kadri's one opportunity to cash in, so I'd anticipate that he plans on taking full advantage of that, as it will likely be his last multi-year deal - and possibly even the last deal of his NHL career. Kadri turns 32 just before the start of the 2022-23 season.