Avalanche bring back Nazem Kadri in trade with Flames

Corey Masisak, The Denver Post on Mar 6, 2026

Published in Hockey

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DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche pulled off a trade deadline day stunner, and it involves a familiar face.

Nazem Kadri, who helped the Avs win the Stanley Cup in 2022, is returning to Colorado in a trade from the Calgary Flames. The Avs sent a conditional 2028 first-round pick, a conditional 2027 second, top prospect Max Curran and Victor Olofsson to the Flames for Kadri and a 2027 fourth-round selection.

“I’m certainly excited. I know our players are really, really excited,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said. “Naz is not only a good hockey player, he’s a really good person that was in those battles. He has the scar tissue with our leadership group of players and coaches. There’s an intimate trust that the moment is not too big.”

The 35-year-old Kadri has 12 goals and 41 points in 61 games for the Flames this season. He’s led Calgary in scoring each of the previous two seasons.

Kadri signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with Calgary in August 2022. Calgary is retaining 20% of Kadri’s contract, so the cap hit for the Avalanche will be $5.6 million for the next three seasons.

There is a new wrinkle the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement — clubs must be compliant with the $95 million salary cap for every playoff game. But, instead of counting the full 23-man roster against the cap, it will only be the 20-man active lineup.

Even with Kadri, Roy and a healthy Logan O’Connor, the Avalanche will be able to ice its 20 best players and just barely be below the cap ceiling.

“Retention was an important part of the equation for us, for a variety of reasons,” MacFarland said. “It goes beyond what we were trying to do this year. I just think with the number of years left on the term of the deal, we were able to get it to a place that made sense for the return that Calgary got … and the math for us was a comfortable number for what we’re looking at over the next few years.”

Kadri was the Avs’ No. 2 center from 2019-22. He had a career-high 87 points for Colorado during the 2021-22 season, plus seven goals and 15 points in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help the Avalanche to its third championship in franchise history.

The NHL’s trade deadline was at 1 p.m. MT, but deals can be announced later in the day as long as they were logged in the queue with the league office before that. General manager Chris MacFarland said the Avs “would leave no stone unturned” ahead of the deadline, and Colorado ended up being one of the busiest teams in the final two days.

Colorado traded for another center, Nicolas Roy, the day before, from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Avs also added defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who slots in as the No. 7 guy on the depth chart.

“I see a lot of teams in our division, our conference adding size and strength here at the deadline,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of Roy. “To get a big, 6-foot-4, long, strong centerman that can help out down low and play against those guys I think is a very good add.”

Just like last season, the Avs made a second swap on deadline day at the position. Last year, the Avs added Brock Nelson and then Charlie Coyle a day later just before the deadline.

The Avalanche depth chart at center now includes Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Kadri, Roy and Jack Drury, not to mention Parker Kelly, Ross Colton and Zakhar Bardakov as further options.

Olofsson, signed to a one-year, $1.575 million deal in August, had 11 goals and 25 points in 60 games for the Avs. Curran who was a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft, had become arguably the club’s top prospect in a shallow pool. Colorado now has no picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 NHL draft, one second rounder in 2027 and a third-round selection in 2028.

The Avs also have arguably the best collection of talent and depth at the center position in the NHL.

“We feel like with the addition of the two guys, we’re very, very skilled in the middle of the ice, and they can also all check and check really well,” MacFarland said. “We think it makes us harder to play against in any type of game.”