Kadri was apparently almost traded to the Flames

In the madness that is July 1st in the hockey world, Nick Kypreos leaked a little something that was an interesting thing to note on the Sportsnet broadcast.

Whether or not this deal was at this season’s trade deadline or last summer is unknown, but Kadri used his no-trade clause to stop a trade that would have sent him to Calgary.

Starting July 1st, 2018, Kadri had his no-trade clause kick in, giving him the option to submit a 10-team no-trade list — Calgary must have been one of those teams.

What was coming the other way in this unknown trade is not cemented, but one could imagine that it would involve one of the defencemen on the stacked Flames blue line.

Probably the biggest trade chip that the Flames had, Dougie Hamilton, was traded on the draft floor a year ago, meaning that Kadri did not have his no-trade clause and would not have been able to deny a trade to Calgary.

So that leaves open the possibility of their other defencemen. The Leafs have been reportedly in on Travis Hamonic since his time on the Islanders, so that could have been a possibility. The right-handed defenceman is signed for one more season at the cap hit of $3.87-million — a reasonable price for a player in a premier position and still an effective one at that.

As of right now, the Kadri trade rumours are spreading but has recently been shot down by people that actually know what they’re talking about. With three more years locked up at a minuscule $4.5-million cap hit, Kadri should be a hot commodity for any contending team.

He scores goals and is elite on the powerplay, so it makes sense that the Leafs have been hesitant to trade him.

If the Leafs are to trade him to one of the 20 teams that are not on Kadri’s list, then they should be getting a significant piece in return. A top-4 right-handed defenceman is not out of the question — especially with all the departures the Leafs have had over the past couple of days. But it better be one that can bring the Leafs up to being an above-average defensive team.

There will be rumours about signings and trades, but it’s evident that Dubas is looking to drastically improve on the disappointing playoff departure. Trading Kadri might not do that, but this offseason is so far, so good.