Report Card: Assessing Nazem Kadri to the Flames and Sean Monahan to the Canadiens

One of the premier free agents in the NHL coming into the summer, Nazem Kadri has finally found a home, signing a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Calgary Flames. The Flames have also traded center Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens.

Signing Kadri marks an exceptional rebound for Flames GM Brad Treliving after the club lost star left winger Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets as a free agent and was pressured into a trade by Matthew Tkachuk. The Flames have added Kadri, left winger Jonathan Huberdeau, and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, making the team that won the Pacific Division last year a legitimate contender to repeat the feat. 

Here is a breakdown of the reported deals of Nazem Kadri to the Flames and Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens.

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Nazem Kadri to the Calgary Flames

Kadri, 31, is coming off the best season of his career. Not only was he a crucial part of the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup win, but he produced a career high 87 points (29 G, 58 A) in 71 games. His previous career high was 61 points, so this was a dramatic leap forward in terms of point production.

Kadri also had dominant play driving numbers, with the Avalanche controlling 57.0 percent of 5v5 shot attempts and 53.9 percent of 5v5 expected goals with Kadri on the ice as Colorado outscored the opposition 60-44 in those 5v5 situations.

Even if Kadri is highly unlikely to duplicate his career best season, he has been a quality center throughout his career, a skilled player who plays with an edge to his game. In fact, his greatest shortcoming has been his inability to keep control of himself in the postseason, as he has been suspended three times in the playoffs (and three more times in the regular season), but the fire at the heart of those plays is also what makes Kadri a valuable player when he is on the ice.

In Calgary, the Flames are probably going to have a relatively balanced approach between their top two lines, with Kadri and Elias Lindholm taking those top two center spots. If Kadri ends up playing with Jonathan Huberdeau, that would be the kind of opportunity that might allow Kadri to have a chance at another point-per-game season. Otherwise, Kadri could still be valuable scoring 60-plus points and providing quality two-way play.

The Flames have reportedly signed Kadri to a seven-year, $49 million deal – and that is likely going to be an issue at some point. In the short term, Kadri should provide good value for his $7 million cap hit, but since he will turn 32 in the first week of October, it is almost assured that he will not provide great value in the last few years of the deal. The question is how long he will be able to produce at a high level.

Nevertheless, this Flames roster is built to win now, and adding Kadri keeps them in the hunt to win the Pacific Division and, potentially, compete for the Stanley Cup.

There has been some movement on Calgary's Stanley Cup odds as a result of the Kadri signing. FanDuel had the Flames priced at +1600 to win the Cup both before and after the news. DraftKings had the Flames at +1900 before and +1800 after, but the big movement came at Caesars, where the Flames were oddly priced at +3500 to win the Cup. After the Kadri deal, that price dropped to +2000.

Signing Grade: B+

Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens

In order to make room for Kadri, the Flames traded veteran center Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens, who are reportedly getting a first-round pick in exchange for taking Monahan’s contract.

Monahan, 27, is coming off a tough season in which he scored 23 points (8 G, 15 A) in 65 games and had his season end prematurely when he required hip surgery for the second consecutive year.

Even if he recovers well from his latest surgery, there is a whole lot of uncertainty about what Monahan might have left. A seven-time 20-goal scorer, Monahan does have some appeal when healthy – but if he isn't, the last season of his contract (with a $6.375 million cap hit) could sit on LTIR.

Monahan’s health makes his contract untouchable, unless there is a sweetener included in the deal – and that sweetener appears to be a first-round pick.

From the Canadiens' perspective, they are not likely to be competitive this season, so using their financial flexibility to get another first-round pick makes long-term sense.

Canadiens Trade Grade: B

As for the Flames, the upside to the deal is really about having the cap space to add Kadri, and while that is an entirely reasonable objective for a team in win-now mode, giving up a first-round pick just to get rid of a contract of an injured player is never going to be easy to swallow.

Flames Trade Grade: C+

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