A few hours after signing depth forwards Joonas Donskoi, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Colin Wilson on Monday, the Avalanche filled a huge need for a second-line center by acquiring Nazem Kadri from the Toronto Maple Leafs in trade that cost them popular high-scoring defenseman Tyson Barrie, Alexander Kerfoot and a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft.
Colorado also got minor-league defenseman Calle Rosen and a third-round pick in 2020.
The 6-foot, 192-pound Kadri, 28, is a two-time 32-goal scorer who last season had 44 points (16 goals, 28 assists) in 73 regular-season games and two points (one goal, one assist) in two playoff games.
"Nazem is a proven goal-scorer and a fierce competitor who plays in all situations. He will immediately fit right in as our second-line center and improve our scoring depth."
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 1, 2019
-- Joe Sakic#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/DrgSOGeBho
“We obviously were looking for a second-line center and he’s got two 30-goal seasons under his belt,… Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in his second conference call of the day. “He plays with grit, he’s signed for three more years.
"We knew with Tyson with what we’ve got coming with (Cale) Makar and we have (Samuel) Girard here and in (Bowen) Byram that going into (Barrie’s) last year we probably wouldn’t be able to re-sign him with where the (salary) cap’s going. We just feel it’s a position of need. We needed a second-line center.…
The 5-10, 190-pound Barrie, 27, is the highest-scoring defenseman in Quebec/Colorado franchise history for career goals (75), assists (232) and points (307) in 484 games. He had 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists) in 78 games last season with eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 12 playoff games.
Sakic said he didn’t think he’d be able to sign Barrie to an extension. Barrie is entering the final year of the four-year, $22 million contract ($5.5 million average annual value) he signed with Colorado on July 31, 2016. The Avalanche will retain half of Barrie’s salary as part of the trade.
Kadri has three years left on a six-year, $27 million contract ($4.5 million average annual value) he signed with Toronto on April 13, 2016.
“(Barrie) is a great person and we’re going to miss him, but with what we have and what we got coming, we feel we really needed to ante up our forward group,… Sakic said. “We wanted to get a second-line centerman and we didn’t think financially it was going to work down the line by trying to sign Tyson to an extension.
"It’s going to cost a lot of money and we felt it was one of those trades (that works) for both teams; they’re looking for a right-handed defenseman and we’re looking for a second-line center. That’s where the deal makes sense for both teams.…
The Avalanche have been stockpiling young, puck-moving defensemen recently with Girard, 21, Makar, 20, and Byram, 18, who was the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NHL draft.
The 5-10, 175-pound Kerfoot, 24, is a restricted free agent. He had 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) in 78 games last season with three assists in 12 playoff games. He had 85 points (34 goals, 51 assists) in 157 games in his two seasons in Colorado after signing as a free agent out of Harvard.
The 6-1, 186-pound Rosen, 25, had 46 points (seven goals, 39 assists) in 54 games last year with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. He has one goal in four games with the Maple Leafs.
Kadri was suspended for what turned out to be the final five games of Toronto’s seven-game, first-round playoff loss to Boston this year for cross-checking Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk in Game 2.
“He’s a fierce competitor and sometimes he gets in trouble with that, but one thing he does is compete," Sakic said. "He wants to win, he battles and will do anything for the team. With him, the way he plays, we feel we added a lot of creativeness to our group as well.…
Kadri, who is from London, Ontario, has spent his entire career with the Leafs, who made him their first-round pick (No. 7) in the 2009 NHL draft. He had 32 goals in 2016-17 and in 2017-18, and has 357 points (161 goals, 196 assists) in 561 regular-season games with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 19 playoff games.
Sakic said it’s possible that Tyson Jost might play on a line with Kadri.
“Kadri can play wing as well, so by making this trade we add a lot of depth with our forward group to match up with the other forward groups around the league,… he said.