Colorado Avalanche trying to trade a star defenceman to bring back Nazem Kadri

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Ryan
July 16, 2022 (9:17 PM)

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We are a few days into free agency and many thought Nazem Kadri would be signed by now, but the Stanley Cup champion still remains without a contract from an NHL team.

But while all of us believe that he is asking for too much, an NHL insider believes he is just hanging back waiting for a specific team to free up some cap space. According to Elliotte Friedman on his 32 thoughts podcast:

I think what Kadri is doing, I've heard, is he's waiting because I think there's some teams that want to sign him & they need to clear room. I think Colorado's still a possibility & I think NYI would be someone else, but I wouldn't assume those were the only 2.

It appears that the Colorado Avalanche are aggressively trying to move 24 year old Samuel Girard who put up 28 points last season in 67 games and another 3 points in 7 playoff games before he was forced out with injury after suffering a broken sternum.

Girard has 5 years left on his 7 year contract that carries an AAV of $5,000,000, which is still a great deal for a defenceman of his calibre.

While it will be a tough loss if they trade away Girard, especially when they will be looking for a return that does not include taking a contract, but the Avalanche showed they are still capable of winning without Girard in the lineup.

Colorado Avalanche looking to trade defenceman Sam Girard to free up salary cap space to re-sign Nazem Kadri#GoAvsGo #coloradoavalanche #nhl #nhltraderumors https://t.co/l11IBXZtje� NHL Trade Rumors (@nhltraderumours) July 16, 2022