Kadri traded back to Avalanche by Flames for Olofsson, draft picks

Nazem Kadri was traded back to the Colorado Avalanche by the Calgary Flames on Friday.

The Flames received forward Victor Olofsson, unsigned forward prospect Maxmilian Curran, a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

Colorado also received a fourth-round pick in the 2027 draft.

"Obviously super excited," Kadri told TSN. "You know, a team at the very top of my list. Man, I can't wait."

The 35-year-old forward has 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 61 games for the Flames this season. He is in the fourth season of a seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million average annual value) he signed with the Flames on Aug. 18, 2022; Calgary retained 20 percent of his remaining salary.

Selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round (No. 7) of the 2009 NHL Draft, Kadri has 751 points (319 goals, 432 assists) in 1,046 regular-season games for the Maple Leafs, Avalanche and Flames. 

"Nazem's one of those guys that you really like. He was great though the whole process, too," Flames general manager Craig Conroy said. "He's a competitive guy. He wants to win at his age. He wants another opportunity. For him to actually be able to go back to Colorado, I think it's kind of a dream come true probably for him. For us, we knew where we're going and with his age, this is something we needed to do."

Kadri has 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 52 Stanley Cup Playoff games and won the Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.

"One minute you think you’re out the door, and the next minute you think you're staying, and the next minute you think you're out, and you're staying again. It's a lot of flip-flopping," Kadri said. "These deals aren't easy to come by. You have to have two working parties. At the end of the day I found out pretty late and I was excited, to say the least."

Colorado (41-10-9) is first in the NHL standings and six points ahead of the Dallas Stars in the Central Division. The Avalanche visit the Stars on Friday (8 p.m. ET; Victory+, ALT).

"I mean, is this real?" Kadri said. "For me, it's a very exciting situation. I mean, first and foremost, I've got to thank the Calgary Flames and how they handled business and how they treated a veteran player and found every way possible to try to make this connection for me. Without them this couldn't be possible, and there’s no doubt in my mind in a couple years the Calgary Flames are going to be a popular destination to play in. You know, I just can't wait to get to work and see my buddies."

The Flames (24-30-7) are 15th in the Western Conference, 12 points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card.

"The whole thing is to get back in the playoffs, to get going in the right direction and have these assets and the picks," Conroy said. "Whether we make the picks or, like I said yesterday, if we could just use the pick to get players, we're going to look at all options, so I think this is important to continue to bring in assets. We're trying to get this thing going in the right direction as quick as possible and right now we're not where we want to be."

Olofsson has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 60 games with Colorado this season. He signed a one-year, $1.575 million contract with the Avalanche on Aug. 20, 2025, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Curran, a 19-year-old forward selected by Colorado in the fifth round (No. 161) of the 2024 NHL Draft, has 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists) in 31 games for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League this season.

The Avalanche also acquired forward Nicolas Roy from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday for a conditional first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, and a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and defenseman Nick Blankenburg from the Nashville Predators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft.

“Nic Roy is a big, right-handed centerman that can play wing,” Colorado GM Chris MacFarland said. “[Coach Jared Bednar] can use him in a lot of different ways. He’s a big body. We’re obviously very familiar with him specifically from his days in Vegas when we butted heads with them. He gives the coaching staff a lot of different matchup scenarios that allows [Bednar] to play whether it’s [Kadri] in the middle, [Kadri] on the wing, Nic Roy on the wing, in the middle. You just can’t have enough centermen and defensemen as well.

"We feel like the addition of the two guys is, we’re very skilled in the middle of the ice and they also can all check and check real well. We think it makes us harder to play against in any type of game, so we’re super excited to have both of them in the mix here today.”

Calgary also acquired forward Ryan Strome from the Anaheim Ducks on Friday for a seventh-round pick in the 2027 draft. The 32-year-old has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 33 games this season.

Strome is in the fourth year of a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million average annual value) and can become an UFA after next season.

Selected by the New York Islanders with the No. 5 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Strome has 489 points (169 goals, 320 assists) in 897 regular-season games for the Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Ducks and 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 37 playoff games.

"I was looking for a center and I've heard unbelievable things about Ryan and with the type of person he is," Conroy said. "For whatever reason, it wasn't working out for him there, but I'll tell you, when I called him he's pretty excited and he's going to do everything in his power to be at that game tomorrow (against the Carolina Hurricanes). When I hear that, that makes me feel good. He's looking forward to showing, 'Hey, look I'm a good player and I'm going to show you that in Calgary,' so he's glad to be a part of this."

The Flames also acquired forward Brennan Othmann from the New York Rangers for forward prospect Jacob Battaglia. Othmann, a 23-year-old forward, has one goal in 17 games this season and three points (one goal, two assists) in 42 NHL games. He is in the final year of his entry-level contract and can become a restricted free agent after the season.

Battaglia, 19, has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 36 games for Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League this season.

NHL.com independent correspondent Laurence Heinen contributed to this report