Calgary Flames centre Nazem Kadri addresses persistent Leafs trade speculation

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Nazem Kadri admits it’s “a little bit bizarre” to see his name floating around in the NHL’s summer rumour mill.

The Calgary Flames might be feeling the same way.

Kadri is signed for four more seasons in Calgary and checks a couple of important boxes for the Flames. He is the leading lamp-lighter for a scoring-starved squad and the first-line centre in an organization that is lacking depth up the middle.

While there are no indications that Flames general manager Craig Conroy would be willing to deal Kadri, that won’t necessarily stop a rival team — and its passionate fan base — from trying.

That explains the persistent speculation from southern Ontario that this 34-year-old pivot should be a top target for the Toronto Maple Leafs. There clearly are a lot of folks who would love to see Kadri conclude his career in the same city where it started, even if there has been no word of serious conversations about his availability in a swap.

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During an interview with Knight Shift podcast last week at his charity golf tournament in his hometown of London, Ont., Kadri acknowledged he’s aware of all that bluster, saying: “Unless I live in a box, I think I would hear it. I’ve certainly heard lots of speculation, for sure.”

“It’s happened quite often over the last couple of months, so it’s a little bit bizarre just scrolling around and seeing your face pop up and name pop up,” Kadri added. “Obviously, the rumour mill is pretty strong, especially around these parts. And a lot of the times, the rumours can catch some fire, and the fire turns into bigger fires. It is what it is.”

Is there any smoke here?

Ever since Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving’s comment in his end-of-season debrief that “if you keep getting to the same result, there’s some DNA that needs to change,” some have wondered if Kadri is exactly the kind of competitor who could help his former team over the hump.

These aren’t difficult dots to connect — Treliving was the GM in Cowtown when Kadri, fresh off a Stanley Cup celebration with the Colorado Avalanche, signed a seven-year deal with the Flames as a free agent in 2022. That contract carries an annual cap-hit of US$7 million and the Leafs did free up some cap-space with the recent departure of star winger Mitch Marner.

While a reunion might make sense from Toronto’s standpoint, Conroy likely isn’t keen to trade his top scorer as he tries to strike the tricky balance between remaining competitive and retooling the roster at the same time. The Flames aren’t exactly loaded with offensive weapons after finishing 29th in the NHL in goals-per-game this past season.

Across his three campaigns in Calgary, Kadri has led all Flames with 88 markers — next on that chart is fellow forward Blake Coleman at 63 — and 198 points.

He tallied 35 times this past season, a new career-high, and set another personal best in ice-time, averaging 19:21 per night.   

“It’s been excellent, it’s been excellent,” Kadri told Knight Shift when asked about his current hockey home. “Calgary is such a great city, especially for the family and I. Very scenic and beautiful, and we’ve got some good players along the way. So I appreciate the C of Red, for sure.”

That won’t stop some in Toronto from daydreaming about how he’d look in blue. It doesn’t require much imagination, since he played 561 games on behalf of the organization that made him a first-round draft choice in 2009.

As the rumours swirl, remember there was a widespread assumption last fall that Kadri would prefer to be traded to a contender rather than stick around through a retool, but he told reporters during training camp to “just pump the brakes” on those questions because he believed the Flames could surprise some people in 2024-25.

While they definitely did that, they ultimately missed the playoffs due to the tiebreaker, tying the record for most points by a crew that failed to qualify for the spring dance.

As Conroy & Co. shoot for a spot among the elite eight in the Western Conference, trading Kadri would seem like a step in the wrong direction. Perhaps they could be persuaded by a package that included a highly touted prospect, but it’s most likely that No. 91 will be skating as Calgary’s first-line centre for the foreseeable feature, with Jonathan Huberdeau on his left wing and either Matt Coronato or Adam Klapka on his right.

For his part, Kadri doesn’t seem to be losing any sleep over the continuing speculation. Set to join the NHL’s silver-stick club in the early stages of this coming season, he has been around long enough to know that the online rumblings are part of the business.

It must be reassuring that he currently has a full no-move clause, meaning he’d have to approve any potential change of address.

“I mean, there’s not a whole lot in terms of sports going on right now,” he said at the Nazem Kadri Charity Golf Classic. “I think it’s definitely a topic to talk about. And hey, why not talk about it?”

wgilbertson@postmedia.com