Colorado Avalanche trying to trade this defenseman to make room for Nazem Kadri

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Josh tupper
July 16, 2022 (2:21 PM)

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Nazem Kadri remains the top free agent talent on the market, but it appears he might be waiting out the market so an interested team can clear cap space. Elliotte Friedman shared a similar idea on the 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.

https://twitter.com/NHL_Watcher/status/1548062651221102593?t=yG9ogHwpy05Y4ndGvd2dtg&s=19

Now it appears the Colorado Avalanche are working the phones aggressively trying to move the contract of Samuel Girard. Last season Girard put up 28 points in 67 games. During the playoffs Girard broke his sternum after a hit by Ivan Barbashev.

Girard has 5 years remaining on his 7 year contract with a annual cap hit of $5,000,000.

If Girard is dealt the Avalanche could use the cap savings to fit Kadri back into the fold especially with Erik Johnson's $6,000,000 coming off the books next season.