Calgary Flames' Nazem Kadri requests trade from team, $7M cap hit complicates deadline move

Feb 26, 2026 (12:53)

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

Nazem Kadri wants out of the Calgary Flames fast, and the NHL trade deadline pressure is suddenly real.

A puckempire post circulating Thursday ties the update to Darren Dreger, with the clear vibe being "sooner rather than later."

That matters because Calgary is sitting at 23-27-6, and the season is slipping away in the standings.

Kadri is still playing big minutes, but the production has cooled this year at 10-29-39 through 56 games.

If the room feels like it's grinding, the numbers back it up, he's at minus-24 and the nights can get heavy fast.

Dreger's chatter, as relayed in a roundup, frames it as an "appetite for change" growing around Kadri and a deal feeling inevitable.

-

The key detail is timing, Calgary can wait, but the player side might not want to.

Flames fans are tired of the constant limbo, because you can feel the rebuild math colliding with a veteran's pride.

Kadri's contract is the cap reality here, a $7.0 million cap hit that runs through 2028-29.

That term can scare off some buyers unless Calgary retains money or takes a contract back.

From a hockey angle, contenders see a center who can drive a top-six line and juice a second power-play unit.

Calgary also has incentive, move him now and you open minutes for younger forwards without forcing awkward lineup decisions.

The deadline is Friday, March 6, so the next week is where the noise turns into action, or fades.

Either way, this feels like the last stretch before the Flames pick a direction and stop straddling the line.

Previously on HockeyLatest

POLL
FEVRIER 26\|114 ANSWERS Calgary Flames' Nazem Kadri requests trade from team, $7M cap hit complicates deadline move Should the Calgary Flames trade Nazem Kadri before the NHL trade deadline?
Yes	94	82.5 %
No	20	17.5 %
List of polls