Adrian Dater
Mark Seidel is the director of player personnel for a major junior hockey team, the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. He has been in the game quite a while now, including a stint with the Minnesota Wild as a scout. Today, on his Twitter account, he said this about Nazem Kadri:
I don’t know Seidel personally, but his credentials in hockey are legit. It’s quite a show of confidence to put something like this on Twitter for the world to see. So, here we are. I have not gotten any confirmation on anything, but ‘veI been hearing – and writing – that the Islanders are the most likely destination for Kadri if he doesn’t come back to the Avalanche.
The one thing I have have felt certain about is that Kadri got only a short-term offer from the Avalanche. Might only be a one-year offer. The Avalanche just believe they have too many other big contracts coming in the next couple of years to give Kadri a long-term deal. So, yeah, I think term was the biggest sticking point between the Avalanche and Kadri.
The Islanders are believed to be working on a deal to clear enough cap space to afford Kadri. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello is well known for signing players to contracts, but not announcing them until days or weeks have passed.
If Kadri becomes an Islander, it would be the second time he’s played under Lamoriello as a GM. Lamoriello negotiated Kadri’s last contract, while in Toronto.
It will be tough for the Avalanche to lose Kadri, if it indeed happens. He was a big part of their Stanley Cup championship, Mr. Clutch in the playoffs, who had 87 points in the regular season. Everybody keeps talking about his age (31) but did he look old to you this year? OK sure, maybe by the time he’s 35 or 36 he won’t seem so special, but I think he’s still got a lot of good hockey left in him.
If Nazem Kadri goes, the Avalanche automatically become a team not as good as it was a month ago. But that’s the way it goes in the good ole hockey game. The salary cap demands concessions the better a team gets.
Until it’s official, nothing is official. But where there’s smoke…