Seattle Kraken: Early Free Agency Targets – Centers
Nazem Kadri
The oldest player on this list, Nazem Kadri is very unlikely to sign in the Emerald City but is worth taking a look at. He’s having a career year at 31-years-old and is a very solid two-way forward. This year isn’t a future standard for his offensive ability; however, Kadri is a perennially 40-60 point guy who is no slouch in his own end.
Kadri is also a polarizing player around the league because he has had quite a few dirty moments. He’s been suspended six times throughout his ten-year career, but since joining Colorado in 2019, the Toronto native has only been suspended once.
Kadri is on pace to have 120 points (if he played all 82 games) in 2021-22. While that’s very unlikely to happen, the scoring rate shows how skilled of a player he is when at his best. Closing in on 32-years-old, Kadri is running out of time in the NHL, so it’s unlikely he’ll want to go through a building period.
For financial reasons, he likely won’t return to Colorado. Gabriel Landeskog got a new contract last summer from the Avs, as did Cale Makar. Those two plus Mikko Rantanen account for $25.5M against Colorado’s cap, and Nathan McKinnon also needs an extension.
Seattle would be a surprise destination for Kadri. That shouldn’t stop Kraken GM Ron Francis from at least calling about him.
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What free agent centers do you think would help the Seattle Kraken next year? Let us know in the comments section below.