Rumor: Nazem Kadri linked to his former GM.

In spite of the fact that he is coming off the back of a very strong performance this season, unrestricted free agent forward Nazem Kadri remains without a contract over 10 days after the official opening of free agency in the National Hockey League.

Up until this point, your guesses as to why exactly Kadri remains unsigned would have been as good as mine but thankfully we have a little bit of an update on the Kadri situation courtesy of New York Islanders reporter Kevin Kurz. On Friday night, Kurz reported that one of his league sources had "heard rumblings" that the Islanders were making a push for the UFA centerman.

"It does make some sense," said the source as per Kurz.

If Kadri is in fact working out a deal with the Islanders it would make sense why things have been relatively quiet on that front, given that New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello is notoriously secretive about the moves that he makes. It's also worth noting that Lamoriello and Kadri have a history of working together, and a history of working out contracts together as well.

Kadri is a free agent for the first time in his NHL career after the deal he signed in April of 2016 came to an end this season, a 6 year deal that carried an average annual value and salary cap hit of $4.5 million per season. That deal was signed when Kadri was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the general manager for the Leafs at that time was none other than Lou Lamoriello himself. Whether or not that level of familiarity would positively or negatively impact the chances of Kadri signing in Long Island however is unclear.

Kadri, who is coming off a 71 game regular season performance that saw him record 28 goals and 59 assists for 87 points and a playoff performance that saw him score 7 times and add 8 assists for 15 points in just 13 games, is almost inarguably the best forward left on the market at this point. If the Islanders, who have been very quiet this summer, are hoping to give themselves an offensive boost after missing the playoffs last season there may be no better option at this stage of free agency.