Elliotte Friedman reveals why Islanders couldn't land Nazem Kadri

The prevailing thought among many in the National Hockey League community was that free agent forward Nazem Kadri, who had just helped the Colorado Avalanche to the 2022 Stanley Cup championship, would be taking his talents east and signing with the New York Islanders. 

Additionally, the thought was that the reason Kadri remained unsigned midway through last week was that Islanders president of hockey operations and general manager Lou Lamoriello needed to create cap space in order to facilitate the move. 

However, Kadri instead is now a member of the Calgary Flames, having agreed to a seven year contract with an AAV of $7 million. 

For the Islanders, their only player move this offseason has been the acquisition of Alexander Romanov; they also need to Noah Dobson before the season begins in October.

So, why wasn't a deal able to be made by Lamoriello? Take a look at what NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman had to say about the situation.

“So I think that one of the reasons the Islanders couldn’t get this done, one of them, is I think…like Calgary was able to make a move to free cap space,” Friedman said. “I think the islanders were in a situation where they struggled a bit more to do that.”

“I can’t give you a great answer on what New York’s next move here is, but I do think they had trouble creating the room to sign Kadri.”

Of course, Lamoriello did make a major move this offseason, making the puzzling decision to terminate veteran head coach Barry Trotz, who twice led them to within one win of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.