Nazem Kadri - Could he change the course of this offseason and this franchise?

[GASabresIUFAN]

Lets get the prelims out of the way.  Yes Kadri is 34.  Yes he has 4 years left on his deal at 7 per season.  Yes he has a NMC.  Yes Calg said they aren't trading this offseason.

Now that the prelims are out of the way, despite comments to the contrary, I think Kadri is available in the right deal.  I'm going to assume Adams has the assets that interest Calg (we know they are interested in Byram).  The question is can Adams and Pegula convince him to come to Buffalo?

If I were Adams, I'd kick the tires and talk to the Flames and Kadri to see if there is an interest.  I think Kadri could be the piece that move the Sabres into playoff contention.  He is a veteran center with tons of playoff experience (including a Cup win in 2022).  He is a pest and very hard to play against.  He also still has his offensive game.  In fact, he out scored and out pointed JJP last season.  He is an instant culture change for this organization.  

Byram for Kadri is a good place to start.  

So who do you replace Byram on the defense with?  Well, Grzelcyk comes to mind.  Also we could promote Kesselring to play with Dahlin and then add a vet like Rutta to add depth and experience.  Or we could trade Rosen, Krebs or other prospects to get a D.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

So what would the offense look like with Kadri and then what happens with Kulich?  Kulich might get sent down at that point and is that really the worst result?  He can also play wing.   

Line 1 - Thompson Kadri Tuch

Line 2 - Benson Norris Quinn

Line 3 - Zucker McLeod Kulich

Line 4 - Doan Krebs/Kozak Greenway

(Malenstyn is an extra)

[Wyldnwoody44]

Ooof to that contract... Nope.. Pass 

Plus, I'm not sure he's a #1 center at this point, that cliff can come hard 

Edited 9 hours ago by Wyldnwoody44

[GASabresIUFAN]

16 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Ooof to that contract... Nope.. Pass 

Plus, I'm not sure he's a #1 center at this point, that cliff can come hard 

The cliff can, but the Sabres need to take some risks at this point to change the direction of the ship.  If we get 2 good years after the trade, then the deal is well worth it.  Also if the Sabres stink, but Kadri remains solid, he could be traded to a contender for a return of assets.  

I agree he likely isn't a No. 1 center in the McDavid sense, but he was 27th in points and 8th in goals among centers last season.  He also is incredibly durable playing 82 games each of the last 3 seasons.  

His addition would make our lineup so much more flexible in case of injury to any of the top 3 centers.  We know McLeod can play up and Kulich and Thompson can be effective at center.  

[dudacek]

Kadri would be an excellent fit to this roster.

I think Byram is a more valuable asset in a vacuum and I think a one-for-one is just filling one hole by opening another.

In conjunction with another complementary move though, it’s well worth exploring.

Edited 8 hours ago by dudacek

[thewookie1]

If we can get Kadri+ for Byram, sure

[inkman]

28 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

If we can get Kadri+ for Byram, sure

Yeah I’d like to see a young D prospect and probably draft picks.  I think the Sabres are doing them a bit of a favor. 

[OrangeSeatVertigo]

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Lets get the prelims out of the way.  Yes Kadri is 34.  Yes he has 4 years left on his deal at 7 per season.  Yes he has a NMC.  Yes Calg said they aren't trading this offseason.

Now that the prelims are out of the way, despite comments to the contrary, I think Kadri is available in the right deal.  I'm going to assume Adams has the assets that interest Calg (we know they are interested in Byram).  The question is can Adams and Pegula convince him to come to Buffalo?

If I were Adams, I'd kick the tires and talk to the Flames and Kadri to see if there is an interest.  I think Kadri could be the piece that move the Sabres into playoff contention.  He is a veteran center with tons of playoff experience (including a Cup win in 2022).  He is a pest and very hard to play against.  He also still has his offensive game.  In fact, he out scored and out pointed JJP last season.  He is an instant culture change for this organization.  

Byram for Kadri is a good place to start.  

So who do you replace Byram on the defense with?  Well, Grzelcyk comes to mind.  Also we could promote Kesselring to play with Dahlin and then add a vet like Rutta to add depth and experience.  Or we could trade Rosen, Krebs or other prospects to get a D.  

any established player with an NMC (and all of them do) is not coming to the Sabres.  so move on from this one.  

[JohnC]

8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Lets get the prelims out of the way.  Yes Kadri is 34.  Yes he has 4 years left on his deal at 7 per season.  Yes he has a NMC.  Yes Calg said they aren't trading this offseason.

Now that the prelims are out of the way, despite comments to the contrary, I think Kadri is available in the right deal.  I'm going to assume Adams has the assets that interest Calg (we know they are interested in Byram).  The question is can Adams and Pegula convince him to come to Buffalo?

If I were Adams, I'd kick the tires and talk to the Flames and Kadri to see if there is an interest.  I think Kadri could be the piece that move the Sabres into playoff contention.  He is a veteran center with tons of playoff experience (including a Cup win in 2022).  He is a pest and very hard to play against.  He also still has his offensive game.  In fact, he out scored and out pointed JJP last season.  He is an instant culture change for this organization.  

Byram for Kadri is a good place to start.  

So who do you replace Byram on the defense with?  Well, Grzelcyk comes to mind.  Also we could promote Kesselring to play with Dahlin and then add a vet like Rutta to add depth and experience.  Or we could trade Rosen, Krebs or other prospects to get a D.  

Hard no. Age and contract are troubling. The contract remaining bothers me more than the age. This deal should be more appealing to Calgary than it is to us. 
 

We all know that you are desperate to get the Bo issue behind us. But acting as if you are desperate doesn’t enhance your trade position, it hurts it. KA is adroitly handling the situation. When you are peddling an asset you don’t treat it as a hot potato asset you need to get rid. 

[JohnnyK]

This is exactly the type of player we need! A gritty player with some talent that can play in the top 6 in any situation!!!  It would slot the other forwards into the correct spots as well and give them some protection.  To make a move the Sabres will need to take on some extra money.   

Go Sabres.

 

[GoPuckYourself]

I would need more than Kadri for sure, that contract is brutal and I would definitely be throwing in Samuelsson as well to unload 1 of our abomination contracts. Maybe Kadri, a D prospect on the verge of coming up and a draft pick. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, OrangeSeatVertigo said:

any established player with an NMC (and all of them do) is not coming to the Sabres.  so move on from this one.  

Generally I agree, but Kadri wants to come back East (based on articles I've read) and I believe he makes his offseason home in Toronto.  So if you were Kadri, do you want to play with a possible bad team close to home with less travel or play on a possible bad team 2000 miles from home?