The Montreal Canadiens are looking for a center, and it’s too early for the Calgary Flames to move Nazem Kadri and others
TSN: Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger on the Montreal Canadiens are looking for a No. 2 center. If the Calgary Flames decide to move Nazem Kadri, would the Canadiens be a good fit for Kadri? The Flames are in a tough spot, but they’re not close to making that decision and are still a long way from making any major moves.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jeff O’Neill: “Pierre, I want to ask you about the Habs, and there’s talk about Nazem Kadri and what are the Flames going to do with him? How are the Flames or the Habs going to go about getting that centerman? I know there’s talk about the player we just talked about in Sydney Crosby, with this big picture, or a fantasy world if they could get him.”
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But do they want to make a play for that guy, or just the element of doing something, instead of waiting for something that may never be?
LeBrun: “Well, great tease, (Jeff O’Neill), for our Insider Trading segment. Darren Dreger has an update on Nazem Kadri in that segment. But to answer your question, the first thing I would tell you is (O’Neill), my understanding is, listen, they have gone through the entire league internally in their preparations, and have a list of which centers could potentially emerge between now and next season. And of course they are ahead this year.
They are, you name it, and it was coined internally at the Montreal Canadiens. And yes, Nazem Kadri gave me one of those names. I think half of them would be interested in him if he became available later in the season because there is still a need for him.
And what’s changed for Montreal, I would say, from the past few years, is that they’ve now become one of those teams where a guy like Kadri, at least I think, just me, now looks at them in a different light. It used to be that they weren’t a rebuilding team, or not really one of the contenders, that a lot of guys would turn away from, and now I think they’re entering that world where they would be a team that a guy like Kadri would be willing to go to at some point.
Maybe it’s not him, maybe it’s another player, but that’s my feeling about it.”
Bryan Hayes: “Dreg’s, Calgary in town. That’s not the case, they’re not off to a good start.”
Dreger: “Terrible. It is. And that’s the main reason why all the speculation is going around around Nazem Kadri, right? It’s partly because of the Canadian markets that could see a match in Nazem Kadri, and right at the top of the list are the Montreal Canadiens, the Vancouver Canucks.”
A return to Toronto, a long shot, but you could see it, right? You can imagine the interest. Brad Treleving has shown that interest in the past, and he will do so again.
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But that’s because the Flames are performing well below expectations. I mean, they should probably be closer to .500 right now or be a .500 team, and that’s not the case. But they’re nowhere near Nazem Kadri and saying, ‘Hey, we’re all in for McKenna and the ship is turning here.’ We can’t do that with people like you, Rasmus Andersson. Maybe (Mackenzie) Weegar. Jonathan Huberdeau gets a little more complicated, but that’s still a ways off.
That’s still a ways off and probably closer to the trade deadline. And you also have a Canadian owner, Murray Edwards, who isn’t playing the tank game very well. It’s too expensive. Ultimately you have to remain competitive.”
O’Neill: “What’s expensive about the tank game?”
Dreger: “Fans don’t want to watch it. They don’t want to come into your building. They don’t want to buy tickets. And look at Detroit, it’s been rebuilding for 9, 10 years?”
Hayes: “Buffalo too. What about Buffalo?”
Dreger: “You know, teams just don’t want to go through this. So I understand the speculation. We’re all part of it. That’s what we do. Still a long way from establishing that Nazem Kadri is legitimately in the game.”
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