Kadri will be on the FAN at 4pm today to talk to Pat
Listening to the interview right now. Kadri said there were other offers on the table for more money, but he wanted to be in Calgary. He said he really felt wanted by the Flames, and that counted for a lot. The city (said he always loved the city), passionate fans, and playing in Canada were also factors for why he chose the Flames. He also wants to win now and feels the Flames are there.
He still sounds really pumped and grateful to be a Calgary Flame.
He also mentioned that aside from Big Z, he also knows Mangiapane off the ice. Worked out with him in the offseason before.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 08-25-2022 at 04:40 PM.
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Honestly, I didn't appreciate how skilled Kadri is before watching those highlight videos, which I know you have to be careful not to put too much stock into. But he scores goals in all different ways, slick dangles, wrist shots, one timers, tips, garbage scrums. Pretty impressive skill set and a much more skilled player, in general, than I thought.
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Think about it: the Islanders have Kadri if they ponied up the first to grab him. I think they had an agreement for a contract IF they had been able to move the cap. Due to poor asset management, they don’t have it and now lost a huge chance on a center that could have complimented Barzal so well.
The Flames ponied up to make our team better in 2023. Costed years on the back end of the 2020’s but this is what we’ve got to do to make this team better. We needed to move Backlund down to the 3rd line to make this team more competitive than it was. And what better way than acquiring a 2-way center agitator that does all of the little things right?
And in fairness to them, it was a fact that he was about to sign there.
IIRC, there were some reports of it being "basically done" by multiple sources. Obviously it wasn't "basically done" if no trade ever happen to even open up the cap space to sign Kadri.
The guy on the radio (not sure the name but eastern media) said he knows for a fact the Islanders had a bigger total dollar offer on the table
Lou don't leak, so his source is very likely on Kadri's side...the question is whether the deal was actually on the table, or a proposal conditional on other events? Something like the Bjorkstrand trade, but maybe there was just no market at all.
A bigger offer is certainly possible, but this was definitely an unusual UFA year...when else have the 2nd & 3rd biggest fish taken 2-5 weeks to sign?
IIRC, there were some reports of it being "basically done" by multiple sources. Obviously it wasn't "basically done" if no trade ever happen to even open up the cap space to sign Kadri.
I interpreted “basically done” as in it’s a done deal contingent on the movement of salary. The Isles weren’t able to so the Flames made their move.