The battle in the Central Division of the Western Conference between the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild is intense. An argument can be made that those are the three best teams in the NHL and they are all battling for the division title and will soon be at each other's throats in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Avs have been in first place all season long, and the acquisition of Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline could be the key move in helping secure the top spot.
That seems an essential move in winning the Stanley Cup. The Stars and Wild are on track to play each other in the first round of the playoffs, meaning one of the best teams in the NHL will be eliminated very early in the postseason. As strong as the Avs are, they may receive their toughest test of the postseason in the second round of the playoffs from the winner of the Dallas-Minnesota series.
This may be fodder for a change in the playoff system that has seen crucial first-round matchups eliminate some of the best teams for years. But as far as the Avs are concerned, they have executed important trade-deadline moves to make their explosive team even better. The biggest move was reacquiring Kadri, a key player for the team when Colorado won the 2022 Stanley Cup.
Kadri brings additional swagger to Avs
While Kadri has been a center throughout his career and he had not played one of the wing positions in years, Jared Bednar placed him there in his first game back with the Avs against Minnesota. Not just any wing, either. He started the game at right wing opposite Marty Necas with Nathan MacKinnon in the middle.
Whether he stays on the top line is still to be determined, but head coach Jared Bednar has more than an adequate supply of centers with MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and Nicolas Roy on the top three lines. Bednar and his players know that Kadri is going to bring an edge to any position he plays, no matter his linemates.
“Everyone who knows him knows he’s kind of got that little bit of swagger,” Cale Makar said. “With this group I think he’s just going to take us to a completely different level.”
The presence of Kadri provides a major boost to the Avalanche. Both physical and emotional because Kadri has been a dependable 200-foot player for many years and he also knows how to raise his game at the right moment. Not only knowing when to get aggressive in the offensive zone but playing with an attitude. He regularly shows his teammates that he will pay the price in order to gain possession of the puck or prevent opponents from mounting a scoring threat.
Kadri has scored 12 goals and 30 assists in 62 games this season, and that includes an assist in the first game of his return to the Avalanche.
While those are pedestrian numbers, He scored a career-best 35 goals last year with the Flames, as he showed great touch around the net and did not hesitate to go after the puck in the high-danger areas.
Kadri has come through in the postseason for the Avs
Kadri has been an All-Star twice in his career, and that included his last season with the Avalanche. He scored 28 goals and 59 assists for a career-best 87 points in 2021-22. He was a power play demon that season as he scored eight goals with the man advantage and he also had a plus-13 rating.
Kadri had two sensational playoff performances during his previous stint with the Avs. He scored nine goals and nine assists in the 2020 playoffs, and he also scored seven goals and eight assists when the Avs won the Stanley Cup in 2022. He has not been back to the playoffs since then, so it is clear that Bednar is getting a motivated player who wants to perform in the postseason.
In addition to what he can do for the Avs from an offensive perspective, he has a way of getting under the skin of his opponents. In his early years in the league with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was not a surprise when Kadri crossed the line and put his team in a bind with penalties. When he went too far, he was also subject to discipline from the league.
But Kadri is 35 years old and knows how to temper his on-ice behavior. He still plays with an edge that will rile up his opponents — and lead to errors on their part — but he knows how to avoid the costliest penalties and suspensions.
Kadri's presence may be just the spur the Avs need to turn their skill and talent into an opportunity to raise another Stanley Cup in late June.
