Colorado Avalanche: The Secret Is in Kadri and Burakovsky

Pre-free agency madness brought Andre Burakovsky to the Colorado Avalanche and July 1st brought Nazem Kadri – this could be a really good pair.

It has been a busy couple of days in the world of the Colorado Avalanche, and most of us are still not completely over the wave of emotions that the Tyson Barrie and Alexander Kerfoot trades brought, but life moves on. That deal gave us Nazem Kadri and Calle Rosén, from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and three days prior we got André Burakovsky, from the Washington Capitals.

Both Kadri and Burakovsky had a rough 2018-2019 regular season for different reasons – one felt the presence of John Tavares and struggled a bit (but nothing tragic), while the other couldn’t seem to find his place in the roster (that one was tragic). But now they have a new team, and with that new possibilities of further developing their game and achieving their best version on the ice.

More from Mile High Sticking

This past season, Kadri had a total of 44 points (16 goals, 28 assists) in 73 games played. He jumped between second and third line with the Leafs, and made it to the top line a couple of times in the pre-John Tavares era. He can be a top liner, but unless Bednar decides to go experimental again, we won’t see him on the top line. At best, he’ll be a second liner, or third, because you know there are good days and bad days.

Burakovsky had 25 points in 76 games played (12 goals, 13 assists) – the exact amount of points (and goals and assists) he got during the 2017-2018 season, except he played lesser games that season. He spent his time with the Caps between the third and fourth line, and as a healthy scratch some days. However, he made it to the top line a few times, right next to Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Bäckström, and the second line, with Jakub Vrana and Bäckström.

Burakovsky has been under the microscope for a long while, with many fans, writers, and analysts asking “what are the Caps doing wrong with him”, because he fluctuates a lot, hence the jumping between lines. But there’s an explanation for that.

I once read that Burakovsky is a “mirror player”, meaning that he performs best when his linemates are the best… and it’s right.

We saw the best of him when he was paired with Bäckström, Vrana, Brett Connolly, and (obviously) Ovechkin. That might be where the secret lies: pair him with the best, and you will get exactly that.

Now, it’s too early to go all “this will be the lines, good luck”, but we can speculate and have some fun. Some projected lines show that the second line will most likely by Tyson Jost-Kadri-Burakovsky, which can work if we remember the “mirror player” part, but hear me: J.T Compher-Kadri-Burakovsky.

Kadri will get physical if needed (and hopefully not too much. Let’s avoid suspensions as much as possible), Burakovsky will find a way to get to the puck and give it to Compher, who we know likes to get creative sometimes and scores some very nice goals. Or Compher could rush to get the puck, give it to Burakovsky, and he can either a) score or b) give it to Kadri when he’s done checking players against the board. I could go on and on.

Burakovsky mirroring Compher and Kadri might be the key to some very handsome scoring depth. Of course, the ideal scenario is that Burakovsky will keep developing and improving his game to a point where he will stop being considered a “mirror player”, but until then, we have a very nice secret weapon on the team – let’s just hope coach will see it and make the best out of it.

While free agency madness left us feeling down with the departure of Barrie and Kerfoot, the Colorado Avalanche (and us, the fans) have a lot to look forward to. The future looks promising and that’s exciting.