{"id":490414,"date":"2026-03-07T03:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T03:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/490414\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T03:28:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T03:28:31","slug":"are-you-serious-avs-land-nazem-kadri-next-stop-stanley-cup-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/490414\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you serious? Avs land Nazem Kadri. Next stop, Stanley Cup title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apparently the Avs cannot have Too Many Men<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

At least not good ones.<\/p>\n

Nazem Kadri is an Av<\/a>. Saying it brings goose bumps. And hip checks. And elbows to the throat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A player no one wanted to leave is back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have only been traded twice and it\u2019s been to the same team both times,\u201d Kadri said. \u201cThey must really like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Avs cannot forget him. No one can. Remember when Kadri addressed the crowd at the parade in 2022? We all do. Not for what he said. But what he wore.<\/p>\n

He brilliantly trolled the Tampa Bay Lightning with a T-shirt that read, \u201cToo Many Men,\u201d a poke at the furious Tampa Bay boosters who alleged that Avs should have been whistled on Kadri\u2019s game-winning goal in overtime of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.\n<\/p>\n

Kadri remains memorable in so many ways.<\/p>\n

He is a heel. He is a dawg. He brings out the best and worst in fans. Colorado rallied around Kadri after he received hateful online messages for his Muslim faith.\n<\/p>\n

He is clutch. He is an agitator. He is a winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaz can do a lot of things for us. His track record speaks for itself. He has been a good 5-on-5 player. He has that fire-in-belly component we have all seen,\u201d Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said in a conference call Friday. \u201cHe lives for the big moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kadril wanted to return to Colorado, where he was beloved on and off the ice. This will go down as the Avs\u2019 biggest trade deadline move ever. It has company with the Rob Blake acquisition 25 years ago. And you all know how that turned out \u2014 with Ray Bourque raising the Stanley Cup above his head with tears in his eyes.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

No other result is acceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how you are measured, in Stanley Cups. That is how it is when you have this core group, when you have this team, and when you have this ownership,\u201d said John-Michael Liles, a former Avs stalwart and Altitude Sports analyst. \u201cThat is the expectation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Yes, it is real. This is happening. The Avs were already the favorite, even with wobbles before the Olympic break, and this cements it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I found out where I was going,\u201d Kadri said, \u201cmy head about hit the ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be honest. We all thought the Kadri sweepstakes were over when Colorado acquired Nicolas Roy.\n<\/p>\n

Calgary was not budging on eating a chunk of Kadri\u2019s $49 million contract. But the Avs circled back, determined to land the player. Keeping him away from the Stars, Wild and Canadiens is a nice byproduct.<\/p>\n

The Flames flinched, retaining 20 percent of Kadri\u2019s deal and shipping off a fourth-round pick. That leaves a $5.6 million cap hit for the Avs over the next three years on Kadri, a manageable number that they would have happily paid in 2022.\n<\/p>\n

He will be worth every dime, nickel and penny.<\/p>\n

And what did Colorado give up?<\/p>\n

Like the Rams, also owned by the Kroenke family, \u201cF Them Picks.\u201d They sent a conditional 2028 first-rounder, a conditional 2027 second-rounder, top prospect Max Curran and Victor Olofsson. Losing Curran stings. But nothing would hurt more than not maximizing the Avs\u2019 championship window.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to give our group its best chance,\u201d MacFarland said. \u201cIf we can make them incrementally better, that\u2019s what we will do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Avs got Kadri. That\u2019s not a move measured in inches, but exclamation points.<\/p>\n

You can repeat this transaction 91 times and not believe it. It seemed impossible. Now the only thing hard to picture is how coach Jared Bednar will make all these beautiful pieces fit.\n<\/p>\n

What a wonderful problem to have. Can you imagine a third line with Kadri or Brock Nelson?<\/p>\n

In the span of 24 hours, the Avs landed a defensive center in Roy and a physical scorer in Kadri.\n<\/p>\n

It opens an avenue to shift Nathan MacKinnon to a wing on occasion to give him more space to be a menace. Roy and Kadri have versatility. Forget game to game, this will allow movement of chess pieces from shift-to-shift to create favorable matchups.<\/p>\n

The ice is frozen, but this situation is fluid. This a mix of dynamic, explosive and ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the opportunity I was looking for,\u201d Kadri said. \u201cThis is what I was searching for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear, it addresses the Avs\u2019 lone weakness. For reasons that defy logic, Colorado has boasted one of the NHL\u2019s worst power plays all season.<\/p>\n

It makes no sense with the Avs\u2019 talent. Some of it is strategic. Some of it has been the departure of Mikko Rantanen. Some of it is trying to be too cute, too patient.<\/p>\n

Kadri will give the unit a boost. Even at age 35. Even with his scoring down this season. Surround him with Avs\u2019 jerseys, and the magic will return.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a skilled hockey player who can make plays,\u201d MacFarland said. \u201cNaz in the middle out there, with his history, I think he will get a good look (to be on the power play).\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the kind of moves that shape legacies. MacFarland talks calmly, but operates every February with the urgency of MacGyver defusing a bomb.<\/p>\n

Well, actually, he just drops them. Over and over. A year ago, he brought Nelson and Charlie Coyle aboard. He thought that team was capable of a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n

This team is better.<\/p>\n

Kadri\u2019s presence will not guarantee a championship, but it adds a sharper edge. His physicality won\u2019t secure a title, but his ability to crawl under the opponent\u2019s skin will create an advantage. His goal scoring won\u2019t bring a Cup, but he ensures they will no longer be naked in odd-man advantages.<\/p>\n

Is it Cup or Bust?<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the rationale of that question. I do,\u201d said MacFarland, who has positioned this team to win rings this season and next. \u201cThere are a lot of good teams and only one will be happy at the end of it. It has to happen on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the Avs have more than a few good men to pull it off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apparently the Avs cannot have Too Many Men. At least not good ones. Nazem Kadri is an Av.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5105],"tags":[193,1651,144,147,5,1180,189,38,2054,4,1492,43,350,14,540,92,5168,5167,3613,3978,3699],"class_list":["post-490414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-lightning","tag-avalanche","tag-chris-macfarland","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-dallas-stars","tag-hockey","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lightning","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nazem-kadri","tag-nhl","tag-ray-bourque","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-stanley-cup","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-lightning","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabaylightning","tag-trade","tag-troy-renck","tag-victor-olofsson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116185773238423208","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}