Nazem Kadri Could Be the Deadline’s Most Important Pickup

Every year, as the NHL’s trade deadline creeps closer, a few names start to float to the top of the conversation. This time around, one of the most interesting is Nazem Kadri. The Calgary Flames might not be in full teardown mode, but they’re clearly listening, and Kadri is exactly the sort of player contenders start poking around about when the weather gets cold, and the standings start getting tight.

Here are three reasons Kadri would make an excellent addition to a Stanley Cup-contending team.

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Reason 1: Kadri Shows Up When Things Get Hard

If there’s one thing I’ve learned watching playoff hockey for decades, it’s this: when everything starts to wobble, you want a player who’s been down the long road before. Kadri has. He’s got the ring. He scored huge goals during Colorado’s run and played through a pile of pressure most players never experience. Some guys tense up when the ice shrinks. Kadri usually loosens up and digs in. You can’t teach that.

Any team thinking they’re one strong push away from doing some real damage should at least pick up the phone.

Reason 2: Kadri Fits Pretty Much Anywhere

One tricky thing about building a great playoff roster is that reality trumps your plans. Like it or not, things never go the way you planned them in October. Someone gets hurt, someone cools off, someone just doesn’t play as well as hoped. Kadri is one of those players coaches love because you can move him around without breaking the rhythm of your lineup. Second-line center? Sure. Bump him up for a few shifts? Works fine.

He’s still playing big minutes in Calgary and chipping in offence at a steady pace. You don’t need him to be a superstar—you just need him to keep the machine moving when everything gets clogged. He’s good at that.

Reason 3: Depth Wins in the Spring, Kadri Is That and More

People often focus on the star players when discussing the playoffs, but depth is usually what tilts a series. Kadri gives teams a whole new wrinkle in that department. Drop him into a contender’s middle six, and suddenly the matchups get a lot tougher for the other bench. If your top line gets squeezed, Kadri can reshape the feel of a game with one physical shift.

As Chris Johnston wrote in The Athletic, “Kadri is a competitor who would immediately raise the ceiling in Montreal.” They believe the Canadiens are a frontrunner. Kadri has a 13-team no-trade list, and Montreal isn’t on it. James Mirtle like the Minnesota Wild.

So, What’s the Catch with Kadri?

The catch with Kadri is the contract, which isn’t tiny. It’s three more years at $7 million. Not pocket change, and he has a no-trade list. But if a team truly believes it’s close, that’s a problem you work around, not a dealbreaker. Someone like the Los Angeles Kings, for example, could talk themselves into Kadri as the piece that settles everything down.

Deadline season always brings surprises. If Kadri moves, don’t be shocked. And if he ends up lifting another team when the games get serious, don’t be shocked by that either. “Vincent Trocheck, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman,” Seravalli said on Oilers Now on names he’s watching once the Olympic trade freeze ends. “Those are three names that I’d throw you right off the hop.”

Related: Insider Claims Maple Leafs Targeting Raddysh, But Reality’s Messy