It seemed as if the Colorado Avalanche had already acquired their third-line centre for the playoffs when they added Nicolas Roy, but the team wasn't done there. They are getting the band back together as Nazem Kadri – an integral part of the Colorado's Stanley Cup win four years ago – was sent from the Calgary Flames back to Colorado. The trade was initially reported by Elliotte Friedman.

The full details are the Flames are retaining 20% of Kadri's cap hit which lowers the average annual value of Kadri's contract from $7-million per season to $5.6-million. (That contract, per PuckPedia, has three years remaining after this one.) Going to Calgary is a conditional first-round pick in 2028, a conditional second-round pick in 2027, prospect Max Curran (a fifth-round pick in 2024), and winger Victor Olofsson. Olofsson is a free agent after this season.

Let's break it down.

What Colorado Gets

The 35-year-old Kadri is still a very productive player despite skating on a very anemic Flames roster. Kadri's first three years with the Flames – 2022-2025 – saw Calgary 22^nd overall by goals-for per 60 minutes. In that time, Kadri scored 1.16 goals per 60 minutes, easily a top-line rate. His 2.62 points per 60 minutes were also a top-line rate.

Things have taken a downturn in 2025-26 but that is largely due to shooting 6.9% against a three-year average of 10.7%. His 0.48 assists per game is the second-highest rate of his four years in Calgary. Kadri was due for some positive shooting regression anyway, but going from a team that is dead last by shooting percentage to even an average team like Colorado will be a big boost for him.

There are two keys to his fantasy value.

The first key is Kadri's even-strength role. The last time he was brought to Colorado, it was to be the second-line centre. This time, though, the Avalanche have Brock Nelson as the 2C and he's having a great season himself. Do either Nelson or Kadri slide to the wing to bolster the top-6, or does Kadri slot in as the third-line centre? There is a big difference between playing on the second line with Nelson and someone like Valeri Nichushkin or Gabriel Landeskog, and playing on the third line with Ross Colton and Parker Kelly.

The second key is the power play. In Kadri's last season with the Avalanche, he skated over two-thirds of the power play time as a fixture of the top unit (per Frozen Tools). Does he get that usage again? It seems probable given that Colorado's power-play is dead last in the league in goals per 60 minutes. The Avalanche need someone who can help with the power play, and in particular someone who can play the bumper role in the middle of the ice. Kadri had 30 power-play goals for the Flames from 2022-2025 and can play the bumper role. Given his familiarity with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, he probably gets a shot on the top PP unit soon. Whether he keeps it or not is another matter, but he'll get that chance.

The only real question is where Kadri slots in at 5-on-5. Even if he's used on the top PP unit, with how heavily Colorado uses the top of their lineup, if he comes in as the 3C, that is going to mean low ice time at even strength. If he slots in somewhere on the second line, that changes the equation. We'll just have to wait and see. If he can skate second line/top PP minutes, Kadri is in for a very productive 20 games ahead.

This leaves a big hole at the top of Calgary's roster. The Flames are going to lean on Mikael Backlund a lot more, but Kadri skated 31.7% of the team's EVTOI this season (the next-closest was Backlund at 28.1%) and earned 64.1% of the team's PPTOI. This is a boost for Backlund and Morgan Frost, but at the same time, the trade takes one of the few players who can drive offence out of the lineup. They may even try Connor Zary as a middle-6 centre as a stop-gap until the lineup is replenished in the offseason.

Olofsson going to Calgary is both good and bad. Obviously, he's going to a much worse offensive team, but he also averaged 11:14 per game in February. He is going to get a lot more ice time than that, and for a guy who loves to shoot, he just needs to get hot for a few weeks to put up a lot of goals in a short amount of time. It isn't the expectation, but it's not impossible.

The additions of Roy and Kadri mean permanent fourth-line duties for Jack Drury. It also puts Gavin Brindley on the bubble for even being on the NHL roster as the team has 12 NHLers signed with Logan O'Connor (currently on LTIR) making 13. At best, Brindley retains his current fourth-line and press-box duties.

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