Avalanche bring back Kadri in late shocker

The Colorado Avalanche acquired forward Nazem Kadri and a 2027 fourth-round pick from the Calgary Flames for forward Victor Olofsson, the rights to prospect Max Curran, a conditional 2028 first-round pick, and a conditional 2027 second-round pick, the teams announced Friday.

If Colorado's top-10 protected 2027 first-round pick is sent to Toronto as part of the Nic Roy trade, Calgary acquires a top-10 protected 2028 first-round pick. If the 2027 first-round pick is in the top 10 and the 2028 first-rounder slides to Toronto, then Calgary receives Colorado's 2029 first-round pick unconditionally.

The 2027 second-round pick will be the better of the two between Colorado's or Minnesota's.

Calgary is retaining $1.4 million of Kadri's $7-million cap hit.

Kadri has 12 goals and 41 points in 61 games this season and was leading the Flames in scoring. He tallied a career-best 35 goals last year.

The 35-year-old is signed through 2028-29 at a $7-million cap hit and has a 13-team no-trade clause.

Kadri won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022. He set a career high with 87 points in 71 contests that campaign.

The trade was first reported over an hour after the deadline passed.

"An absolute sweat," Kadri said, according to TSN's Chris Johnston. "I didn't even know it could happen that long after."

The London, Ontario, native has 319 goals and 751 points in 1,046 career games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Avalanche, and Flames.

Olofsson has 11 goals and 25 points in 60 contests in 2025-26. The 30-year-old carries a $1.575-million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent in July.

Drafted 151st overall by Colorado in 2024, Curran has 41 points in 31 WHL games this season. The 6-foot-3 forward also represented Czechia at the world juniors earlier this year and is a UMass commit.

Colorado sits first in the NHL with a 41-10-9 record.