Other moves, beyond free agency, were made this week in the NHL.
One of the bigger events was a trade between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche.
The Leafs sent Nazem Kadri to the Avs.
“I feel like I’m having a great summer so far and I’m feeling really the best I ever have working for redemption next season,” Kadri said Tuesday. “I feel strong, I feel great and I strongly believe that my best years are yet to come. I think Colorado’s a nice step for me.”
Kadri is a gifted center but on the Leafs’ ice this season he played poorly with just 16 goals as the third line center. Those 16 markers came a year after hitting 32 goals in consecutive seasons.
“I think everyone knows what I’m capable of,” Kadri said. “Hitting the 30-goal mark back-to-back times is pretty tough to do in the NHL, and I certainly have that potential.”
Kadri plays with an edge but if the Avs are going to get the old center or the new new one is a big difference and a big chance to take on the 28-year old.
Suspensions and healthy scratches kept him to 73 games in the regular season with 44 total points.
What the Avalanche need is a stronger second line this coming campaign.
The Colorado first line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen was leaned on far too much and the opposition keyed their defense on that trio and survived any push from the bottom lines.
“I’m ready for it,” Kadri said. “That’s a good thing about Toronto, prepping you (for being) under that pressure, being under the microscope. It’s hard to perform there sometimes because of the scrutiny and the pressure that you face, how everyone seems to be watching you. That’s one thing that I’m fortunate that the city gave me, just to be able to adapt and control those pressure situations.”
The Avs gave up a great deal for Kadri including Tyson Barrie, Alexander Kerfoot and a sixth-round Draft pick in 2020.
Barrie was a coveted trade targets ahead of the deadline this past season and his name was bandied about since the season ended. He had 14 goals and 59 points on the season.
Kerfoot was good for 15 goals and 42 points.
“We knew with Tyson, with what we’ve got coming with Makar and we have Girard here, and in Byram, that going into [Barrie’s] last year we probably wouldn’t be able to re-sign him with where the [NHL salary cap is] going,” Colorado general manager Joe Sakic said. “We just feel it’s a position of need. We needed a second-line center.”
The Avs also picked up forward Calle Rosen in the deal from the Maple Leafs.
Rosen, 25, has two points on a goal and assist in eight games with Toronto; he has spent most of his last two seasons with the Toronto Marlies in the American league.
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