October 23, 2025 | 3:10pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

TRADE SPECULATION PICKS UP AROUND KADRI, AGAIN

Nazem Kadri, centre

With just one win in their first eight games of the 2025-26 NHL regular-season, speculation is starting to swirl over what the Calgary Flames may end up doing this season.

Defenceman Rasmus Andersson has been the subject of trade rumours for over a year, and the expectation is he will be moved at some point this season.

Andersson, 28, is in the final season of a six-year, $27.3 million contract and is currently eligible to become an undrafted free agent next summer.

With Andersson’s future to-be-determined, reports and speculation over the future of other Flames players are starting to pop up, specifically around veteran centre Nazem Kadri.

Kadri, 35, is in the fourth season of a seven-year, $49 million contract. He owns a full no-movement clause, which shifts to a 13-team no-trade list next season.

The native of London, Ontario, is no stranger to trade chatter, as his name has popped up each of the last two off-seasons and is starting to make the rounds again, primarily due to Calgary’s poor start.

If the Flames cannot right the ship this season, moving Andersson may not be the only change they make and that has prompted the Kadri trade talk, even though a deal is not imminent.

Flames GM Craig Conroy has not yet decided to go through a full rebuild, and the belief around Calgary is such a direction is unlikely. A retool, however, may be in the cards if the team continues to falter; moving Andersson could be the first shoe to drop.

Andersson’s preference is to move to either Dallas or Vegas, two teams he is willing to sign an extension with. Both Los Angeles and Ottawa expressed interest in Andersson in the past, but he was not willing to ink long-term deals with either team, preventing a trade from happening.

As for Kadri, while the chatter appears to be premature, Conroy could be willing to take calls on him later in the season and see if a team is willing to pay a premium to acquire him, upon which Kadri would have to decide if he is willing to sign off on a trade.

In eight games, thus far, Kadri leads the Flames in points with four, all assists.