After going against all the reports of signing with the Islanders and finding a new home in Calgary, Nazem Kadri took time out of his family vacation to speak with the media about his decision. Six weeks on the open market is unusual for such a high profile free agent, but Kadri chose to take his time in weighing all the factors that were important to him and ultimately chose the 7-year, $49M deal from Calgary.
From reports that surfaced shortly after he signed with Calgary, the Flames and Kadri had a deal in place last week at some point, but the Flames had to find a way to move out some money to make the deal work. They did so in trading Sean Monahan to Montreal, freeing up enough space for Kadri.
Initial reports had mentioned that the Flames swooped in at the last minute and made an offer to Kadri, however Kadri said Calgary was actually interested right from the opening of free agency and even a few years back.
