The Colorado Avalanche acquired center Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames on Friday, and his strong advanced metrics further solidify their status as the front-runner to win the Stanley Cup.
Kadri, who won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022, rejoins Colorado’s elite core of center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar. Kadri was also teammates with wings Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog, and, since the Avalanche’s championship, they have also made impact trades for Martin Necas and Brock Nelson. MacKinnon, Nelson and Kadri could form arguably the best center trio in the NHL.
Kadri set NHL career highs in points (87 in 71 games), assists (59) and power-play points (29) with the Avalanche in 2021-22 and had plenty of Stanley Cup Playoff heroics during his first tenure with the team. He had 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 15 postseason games in 2020 before having 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 16 playoff games during their championship run in 2022. Kadri had the most game-winning goals (seven) on the Avalanche over those two postseasons combined (2020, 2022).
This season, Kadri led the Flames, who were out of postseason contention, in points (41) and shots on goal (175) at the time of the trade. Since 2021-22, Kadri was one of nine NHL players with at least 300 points (326), 1,200 shots on goal (1,245) and 300 hits (300) prior to the trade.
Here are three underlying storylines behind Kadri rejoining the Avalanche that solidify their lineup ahead of the postseason:
1. Shots by location
Kadri was a shots by location standout among forwards with the Flames this season prior to the trade; he ranked in the 94th percentile in midrange shots on goal (58) and 92nd percentile in high-danger shots on goal (55). Kadri had a low shooting percentage this season prior to the trade (6.9 percent) compared to last season (12.5) and is likely to bounce back with Colorado to a rate closer to or higher than his career average (10.8). The Avalanche, as a team, led the NHL in midrange goals (86) and midrange shots on goal (674) this season prior to the trade.
Last season, Kadri had an NHL career high in goals with the Flames (35; tied for 18th in NHL) and was tied for second in midrange shots on goal (119) behind MacKinnon (138), who will be his teammate again after the trade. Kadri was also tied for seventh in the entire NHL in midrange goals (16) last season. Together with the acquisition of forward Nicolas Roy, Colorado has rounded out its top-nine group with two versatile players.
