The Toronto Maple Leafs are staying active in the trade market to fix some holes. With John Tavares signed, the center position is less of a concern but there is still a glaring hole and lack of a centerman that can share the middle-six load with the former captain.
Could they turn to an old friend to do exactly that?
The Calgary Flames were fairly close to making the playoffs last year but seem to be in a weird bit of a retooling mode. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson is most likely on his way out and according to Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos, multiple teams have been asking Flames general manager Craig Conroy about center Nazem Kadri. His former team, the Maple Leafs, are one of them.
Nick Kypreos: Teams have been inquiring about Flames' Nazem Kadri; Toronto would be one of them - SN 960
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) June 29, 2025
Kadri seems to be the one that got away and the Maple Leafs, under a completely new regime since the 34-year-old center was last in Toronto, could have solved a lot of problems on past iderations of this team in the last couple of years. Instead of trotting out a one-way player in Max Domi, the Leafs might have had the luxury of plopping Kadri down on the third line and raising the floor of everyone around him.
But, is there really a fit right now? Kadri has four years left on his contract that carries a $7-million AAV and will turn 35 years old in October. That doesn't spell out long-term success or a trade the Leafs could make to prevent them getting any worse with the loss of Mitch Marner.
Kadri is still a heck of a player, though. Just last season, the former Leafs' seventh-overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft, scored a career-high 35 goals and earned 67 points, which caused him to lead the Flames in both categories. If he was able to sustain that level of play for even half of the remainder of his contract, a Kadri-Tavares partnership down the middle to slot behind Auston Matthews is not a bad call whatsoever.
There is no telling what it would cost to acquire him, but one has to assume that the Flames, who do not want to get any worse, would just throw away their leading scorer and 35-goal scorer for nothing just because he is old and has a no-move clause for the upcoming season.
It would be so fun to have Kadri back in the Blue and White -- we can all agree on that.