DALLAS \u2014 The Colorado Avalanche celebrated more than just one of its best wins of the season Friday night.<\/p>\n
Just a few hours before the Avs came back from two goals down to defeat the Dallas Stars<\/a> at American Airlines Center, Colorado made the biggest move of trade deadline day and brought a Stanley Cup champion home. The Avs traded for Nazem Kadri<\/a>, who had to leave after winning the championship in 2022 but is back to help his old pals try to win another<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting,\u201d Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said after the 5-4 shootout win. \u201cHe\u2019s a world-class player. He had 35 goals last year and continues to produce. He\u2019s a gamer. We know that from the past. I love the guy, so it\u2019s super exciting to bring him back into our room.\u201d<\/p>\n Colorado had a successful lead-in to deadline day. Avalanche management had already checked three items off the wishlist:<\/p>\n The Avs were already happy with their newfound center depth. Then, they added Kadri at the buzzer.<\/p>\n Now, Parker Kelly is the No. 6 option at center, while producing a career-year playing mostly on the wing. He was the club\u2019s No. 3 option at center for a big chunk of last season, before Jack Drury arrived ahead of Roy and Kadri.<\/p>\n \u201cIt adds a guy we know really well.\u201d Avs coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cWe\u2019ve won with him before. It\u2019s exciting. The guy\u2019s got a lot of friends still on the team. He\u2019s excited to come back. I\u2019m excited to have him back. It\u2019s another impact, dynamic player that you can put in your roster.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see how it all sorts out eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n Kadri was the No. 2 center behind Nathan MacKinnon when the Avs steamrolled through the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, the Avs have Brock Nelson, who already has 30 goals in 61 games, in that spot. Kadri could be the No. 3 guy, with Roy shifting to the wing.<\/p>\n Or that could be reversed. One of them could have the chance to fill in on one of the top two lines while Artturi Lehkonen is out with an injury.<\/p>\n \u201cSuper happy,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cObviously, we\u2019re pumped to have Naz back. It\u2019s exciting for the fans, for this organization, all of us in this room. I think we needed a little bit more game-breaking, a little scoring punch we might have missed last year in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, it\u2019s a lot of pressure on us. We\u2019ve got to perform. Once again, our management\u2019s going all in. We definitely appreciate (management) putting us in a good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n The Avalanche was already atop the NHL standings. It\u2019s been that way for closing in on four months. Colorado was already the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n Then the Avs won deadline day.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to put yourself in a position where your management can go out and try to improve the team this time of year. That\u2019s all you\u2019re looking for,\u201d Lankdeskog said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got full faith in (general manager Chris MacFarland) and our staff to put the best team we possibly can on the ice. That\u2019s something they\u2019ve done. It gives us quite a bit of power through the middle and flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n It was an interesting scene Friday night in downtown Dallas. The two best teams in the NHL were on the ice for warmups, but both clubs were missing their most recent additions ahead of the deadline, plus a key Finn (Lehkonen for Colorado, Mikko Rantanen for Dallas).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kadri was speaking to the media via Zoom, excited about the homecoming. The Avs are hopeful that Kadri will be in Denver by Sunday morning, and it\u2019s plausible that he could be in the lineup at Ball Arena against the Minnesota Wild.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing that I\u2019m coming back to Colorado is just a dream come true,\u201d Kadri said. \u201cThe situation they\u2019ve put themselves in, and just me being able to tag along and add, I cannot wait.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s surreal. It feels like deja vu all over again, and nostalgic, to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n