Nazem Kadri's destination for next season becoming all the more clear

A large contingent of hockey fans had assumed that former Leafs and Avs center Nazem Kadri would be among the first to sign a huge deal when free agency opened up on July 13th. Well, here we are 11 days later and still, there is no contract in sight for Kadri.

What does this mean? Well, what it probably means is that Kadri, who just won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, is patiently waiting for the Avs to move out a contract in order to accommodate a very large extension for the London, Ontario native.

At current time, the Avs have 21/23 players signed through next season, with a little over $3.9M in available cap space. The earliest rumours of what Kadri was looking for on a long-term deal was a number that started with an 8. But that was before the Avs won a Cup. After the Cup win, some pundits had begun suggesting that Kadri could secure a long-term deal at between $9M-$10M per season. Of course, that would have been on the open market. If Kadri sticks with the Avs, and it's looking like he probably will at this point, I'd still very much anticipate that his deal will be in the high 7's to mid 8's - something like 7 years and $56M ($8M AAV) sounds about right for Kadri, who is set to turn 32 this year. Honestly, given his age, the Avs may even be able to bring him back for less than $8M per season.

So how are the Avs going to accommodate that kind of cap hit for Kadri? Well, alternate captain Erik Johnson is entering the final year of his deal, which carries a $6M cap hit. His career has been hampered by injuries, but after playing 77 games last season, his trade value is probably the highest it's been in 2-3 years. He does have the ability to submit a 12-team no-trade list, but that does still leave the Avs with some options.


Another option is to move 24-year-old defenseman Samuel Girard, who has 5 years remaining on his current deal at $5M per season, and unlike Johnson, Girard does not have any trade protection and might be appealing to a lot of teams, given his age and skill set.

If either of these moves happen without the Avs bringing back any salary, strictly futures, they'll have anywhere between $8.9M and $9.9M to spend on Kadri's deal and 1 additional depth forward.

This continues to be one of the NHL's biggest offseason stories, pending a resolution, but the more time that ticks away, the more likely we are to see Kadri back with the Avs next season. At least that's my opinion on the subject.