The chaos of the off-season has begun, so teams are deciding which direction to go when it comes to the future of the organization. This means trades, re-signing players, and finding new pieces to add to your team. With this comes leaked information and rumours. Today we will cover Nazem Kadri future contract and the Colorado Avalanche and their ability to keep him on the roster.
Colorado Avalanche May Not Have Room Nazem Kadri Contract
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There is no doubt that Kadri was an important piece in getting the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup Final. In the 16 games of the post-season that he played in, he scored seven goals and recorded 15 points. If that isn’t impressive enough, Kadri had surgery on his thumb and returned after only missing two weeks. After winning the Stanley Cup, the Avalanche are now having to look ahead and figure out how to preserve most of the winning roster.
However, Colorado has 12 players whose contracts expired after this season; both restricted and unrestricted free agents. Kadri included, there are some big players that will need big contracts. Some of these players are Artturi Lehkonen, Andre Burakovsky, Valeri Nichuskin, Josh Manson, and Darcy Kuemper. But the Avalanche only have about 25 million dollars to make this happen.
What This Means for Kadri
The 32-year-old is coming off a career year, breaking his own personal record for assists and points. In 71 games he scored 28 goals and recorded 59 assists and 87 points. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for ten seasons before moving to Colorado. Kadri’s reputation previously was that of liability, especially when it came to playoffs. But he has shown that he moved past that. His growth on the ice and mentally warrant a bigger contract than he’s seen before. He is coming off a six-year, 4.5 million dollar contract.
The issue is Colorado may not have the space to keep Kadri. However, there are other teams that would take on his veteran presence and production. Kadri has only been linked to the Detriot Red Wings so far. But as the off-season progresses, more teams will inquire about the forward. However, it will come down to numbers for the future of Avalance and Kadri’s relationship.
