The Flames get a proven veteran with a knack for getting under opponents’ skin. He scored 28 goals and added 59 assists last season en route to winning a Stanley Cup.
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Brad Treliving pulled the strings on a transformational summer.
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It’s been a franchise-altering month, and he put on a masterclass in talent acquisition.
The Flames general manager has been as busy as anyone on the continent this summer. On Thursday, he put the finishing touches on his rapid-fire re-tooling of the Flames roster with the signing of free-agent center Nazem Kadri to a seven-year deal worth an average of US$7 million per season.
Treliving had to deal away Sean Monahan, a centerpiece of the post-Jarome Iginla rebuild who had scored 212 goals and had 462 points in nine years with the Flames but had been dealing with persistent injury issues over the last couple of years.
In Kadri, though, the Flames get a proven veteran with a knack for getting under opponents’ skin. He scored 28 goals and added 59 assists last season en route to winning a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. It could comfortably be argued that he was exactly what the Flames needed.
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“This is an exciting day for my family,” said Kadri via statement. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to join such a passionate fanbase and organization. I’ve always loved the city of Calgary, and I look forward to giving everything I have to this team. Winning a Stanley Cup is a true honor, and it only makes you want it more. I would love nothing more but to see another banner in Calgary.”
The move was the latest in a series by Treliving that’s been made all the more remarkable by the hand he was dealt earlier in the summer.
In July, he lost Johnny Gaudreau in NHL free agency and was informed by Matthew Tkachuk that the winger’s future lay elsewhere.
Suddenly, a team that had finished first in the Pacific Division last season was being faced with serious questions about whether a rebuild was the most logical route forward.
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Now, there’s a serious argument to be made that despite losing their two top point producers from last season’s squad, the Flames may actually be a better hockey team.
Yes, they lost Gaudreau for nothing.
With Tkachuk, though, Treliving refused to simply take young assets or draft capital in return. He wasn’t willing to accept pennies on the dollar and instead pulled off a trade with the Florida Panthers that netted the Flames Jonathan Huberdeau, Mackenzie Weegar and prospect Cole Schwindt.
Treliving subsequently got Huberdeau — who finished with the second-most points in the NHL last season — to commit to a massive eight-year, US$84-million contract.
If Huberdeau’s offensive production is seen as a like-for-like replacement for Gaudreau’s wizardry, the same probably shouldn’t be said about Kadri.
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Sure, they’re both world-class agitators who can also fill the net, but Kadri won’t be skating on the first line the way Tkachuk did. He’ll likely be the Flames second-line center. With Elias Lindholm in the middle of the top line and Mikael Backlund centering the third, it’s been a long, long time since the Flames have had this much depth of talent down the middle.
“Nazem is a highly competitive top-six player who makes our center ice position deep,” Treliving said. “He brings a high skill level and determination to our group combined with his recent experience of a Stanley Cup championship. We look forward to welcoming Nazem and his family to Calgary and his contributions to our team’s ultimate success.”
The left-shot centerman is an NHL veteran of 739 games split between the Toronto Maple Leafs (561) and the Colorado Avalanche (178) sporting 219 goals and 293 assists for 512 points in his career. Along with that came 52 games of Stanley Cup Playoffs experience with 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points.
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To make room for Kadri under the cap, the Flames traded Monahan and a conditional 2025 first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for future considerations.
The sixth-overall draft selection in 2013 leaves the Flames after netting 212 goals and 462 points in 656 games and 10 more goals and 21 points in 30 playoff games.
“On behalf of the entire Flames organization, I sincerely thank Sean for his nine years of selfless dedication and perseverance,” Treliving said. “Sean was a great Flame, a first class individual who exemplified the definition of respect. Our team and city were fortunate to have him as a player, ambassador and member of our community. We wish Sean and his wife, Brittany, every success in this new chapter of their lives and once again say, ‘Thank you’.”
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While Treliving had to improvise and make decisions on the fly after Gaudreau’s defection and Tkachuk’s decision, it is not as if the Flames’ interest in Kadri came out of the blue. This isn’t even the first time they’ve tried to acquire his services.
In 2019, the Flames worked out a deal with Kadri’s then-team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, that would have sent defenseman TJ Brodie the other way. Kadri had a 10-team no-trade clause and nixed the deal before getting shipped to the Avalanche.
As he explained later that season on Sportsnet’s 31 Thoughts: The Podcasthis decision to squash the trade had less to do with Calgary and more to do with wanting to stay with the Leafs organization that had drafted him in 2009.
“What happened is they had a deal in place and they wanted me to move my no-trade clause,” Kadri explained on the podcast in 2019. “Obviously, for me, it was no disrespect to Calgary or the Flames organization. I love their team, and I love the direction they’re headed.
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“I just figured that had I declined, I would have had a better opportunity of being a Maple Leaf next year, and that’s really what it came down to… I wanted to play for the Leafs next year. I wanted to be a part of that.”
Now, Kadri gets to be part of a Flames team that looks an awful lot like a contender.
Despite losing Gaudreau and Tkachuk, it can be argued that the additions of Huberdeau and Kadri should keep the Flames on pace for similar production next season, especially if the likes of Andrew Mangiapane — who was signed to a three-year deal this summer — can take another step forward in their development.
The addition of Weegar should make the Flames defense even better than it was last year, especially when Chris Tanev returns from injury.
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With Jacob Markstrom in net, the Flames will have no issue stopping pucks.
If you consider the additions of Blake Coleman and Tyler Toffoli over the past year, the job Treliving has done adding veteran proven talent becomes even more impressive.
Losing Gaudreau and Tkachuk could have crippled the Flames. The franchise could have waved the white flag.
Instead, Treliving refused to surrender.
“We’ve got a team that I think is a top team in the league, a team that’s competing every year to be a Stanley Cup champion, and we’re going to continue to do that,” Treliving said back in July.
