The Colorado Avalanche brought back Nazem Kadri, one of the centers who helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2022. Their center depth is now very strong in a division with two other Cup contenders.
The Colorado Avalanche have led the NHL for most of the season, and they have now added a familiar face.
Colorado acquired center Nazem Kadri and a 2027 fourth-round pick from the Calgary Flames right before Friday's NHL trade deadline.
In return, the Flames received right winger Victor Olofsson, unsigned draft pick Max Curran, a conditional 2028 first-round pick and a conditional 2027 second-round pick.
The Avalanche now have Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Kadri, Nicolas Roy and Jack Drury down the middle as they look to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in five seasons.
Kadri has led the 31st-place Flames in scoring this season, with 12 goals and 29 assists for 41 points in 61 games. He was Calgary's first-line center for much of the past four seasons.
The 35-year-old previously played three seasons for the Avalanche, from 2019-20 to 2021-22. In that third season, he put up a career-high 59 assists and 87 points while averaging 19:14 of ice time. In the playoffs, he added 15 points in 16 games to help the Avalanche capture the Stanley Cup.
Kadri also features on the power play, which could help the Avalanche. They have the league's worst power-play percentage right now. Kadri has 13 power-play points this season and had 29 for the Avs in 2021-22.
Colorado has slowed slightly, with an 11-8-2 record since Jan. 1. But they still lead the NHL standings by six points, with Central Division rivals, the Dallas Stars, in second place.
Avalanche Put A Bow On The Central Division Arms Race
Arguably, no division has been more dominant this NHL season than the Central.
Colorado and Dallas are first and second in the league, and the Minnesota Wild are third.
Each team made moves this trade deadline season.
The Avalanche acquired centers Kadri and Roy and defensemen Brett Kulak and Nick Blankenburg.
The Stars added left winger Michael Bunting and defenseman Tyler Myers.
The Wild brought in wingers Bobby Brink, Nick Foligno and Michael McCarron, as well as defenseman Jeff Petry. But no move was more significant for them than the one in December, acquiring superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks.
With the NHL's playoff format pitting the second- and third-seeded teams in each division against each other in the first round, one of these squads will be eliminated early. And with the second round being the division finals, two of them will be gone after that point.
That increased the pressure significantly on the Avalanche to add some strong depth to their squad, even though they're shaping up to face a wild-card team in the first round.
This move is a strong message that the Avalanche are all-in to win and doing what it takes to get even better, even though they're already the best in the regular season so far. The rest of their pursuit of the Cup should be thrilling for fans to watch.
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