The Colorado Avalanche completed their first game post-trade deadline on Sunday, coming away with a shootout win against the Minnesota Wild. The newest member of the Avs, Nazem Kadri, suited up and played 21:47 in his return to Colorado, this time on the side that he won a Stanley Cup with in 2022.
Everybody has been asking Kadri’s new-old teammates about his return, including defenseman Cale Makar, who provided a pretty awesome quote and compliment for ”Naz.”
"“It’s awesome. Naz is a gem of a guy. Everybody that knows him knows he’s got a little bit of swagger. We’re excited to have him back with this group. I think he’s just gonna take us to a completely different level.”"Cale Makar on Nazem Kadri
Okay, so there are two incredible compliments there. Being a gem of a human being is something that we should all strive to become. Part of that for athletes is the chemistry and comradery between each other. If you don’t have that, it is easy to have a bunch of miscues and mistakes throughout games. The fact that Kadri has played with some of the current Avalanche players in the past is important. It can sometimes feel as if they didn’t ever lose a beat.
The second part of the quote that made me smile was Makar saying that Kadri will take them to a new level. The Avalanche are already the top team in the entire league. They just need to clean up things on special teams. They gave up a power play goal on Sunday, and were unable to connect on a power play goal through five separate attempts.
Though they had several high-grade chances, the fact that they were unable to connect again is deflating. At some point, something has got to give. They cannot head into the postseason with the power play still being their core issue. It is unrealistic to assume they won’t have plenty of power play opportunities come playoff time, and it’s just frustrating because there has been some improvement but no luck.
Kadri was on the Avs’ power play on Sunday, so hopefully with some practice time with his power play line-mates coming up, they will be able to put it all together for their upcoming games and have it improve by the time the playoffs begin. Kadri could be the missing piece. Whether he is or not, Makar and his other teammates are thrilled to have Kadri back in the building.