Apparently the Avs cannot have Too Many Men.
At least not good ones.
Nazem Kadri is an Av. Saying it brings goose bumps. And hip checks. And elbows to the throat.
Nazem Kadri is an Av. Again.
A player no one wanted to leave is back. Remember when Kadri addressed the crowd at the parade in 2022? We all do. Not for what he said. But what he wore.
He brilliantly trolled the Tampa Bay Lightning with a T-shirt that read, “Too Many Men,” a poke at the furious Tampa Bay boosters who alleged that Avs should have been whistled on Kadri’s game-winning goal in overtime of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Kadri is memorable in so many ways. 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 religion.
He is clutch. He is an agitator. He is a winner.
“Naz 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,” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said in a conference call Friday. “He lives for the big moments.”
Kadril wanted to return to Colorado, where he was beloved on and off the ice. This will go down as the Avs’ biggest trade deadline move ever. It has company with the Rob Blake acquisition 25 years ago. And you all know how that turned out — with Ray Bourque raising the Stanley Cup above his head with tears in his eyes.
No other result is acceptable.
“That’s 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,” said John-Michael Liles, a former Avs stalwart and Altitude Sports analyst. “That is the expectation.”
Yes, it is real. This is happening. The Avs were already the favorite, even with wobbles before the Olympic break, and this cements it. Be honest. We all thought the Kadri sweepstakes were over when Colorado acquired Nicolas Roy.
Calgary was not budging on eating a chunk of Kadri’s $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.
The Flames flinched, retaining 20 percent of Kadri’s 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.
He will be worth every dime, nickel and penny.
And what did Colorado give up?
Like the Rams, also owned by the Kroenke family, “F Them Picks.” 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’ championship window.
“We are trying to give our group its best chance,” MacFarland said. “If we can make them incrementally better, that’s what we will do.”
The Avs got Kadri. That’s not a move measured in inches, but exclamation points.
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.
What a wonderful problem to have. Can you imagine a third line with Kadri or Brock Nelson?
In the span of 24 hours, the Avs landed a defensive center in Roy and a physical scorer in Kadri.
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.
The ice is frozen, but this situation is fluid.
“Frankly you have five centers,” Liles said.
This is not like having a handful of Luke Wattenbergs, with all due respect to the Broncos snapper. This a mix of dynamic, explosive and ridiculous.
And let’s be clear, it addresses the Avs’ lone weakness. For reasons that defy logic, Colorado has boasted one of the NHL’s worst power plays all season.
It makes no sense with the Avs’ talent. Some of it is strategic. Some of it has been the absence of Mikko Rantanen. Some of it is trying to be too cute, too patient.
Kadri will give the unit a boost. Even at age 35. Even with his scoring down this season. Surround him with Avs’ jerseys, and the magic will return.
“He is a skilled hockey player who can make plays,” MacFarland said. “Naz in the middle out there, with his history, I think he will get a good look (to be on the power play).”
These are the kind of moves that shape legacies. MacFarland talks calmly, but operates every February with the urgency of MacGyver defusing a bomb.
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.
This team is better.
Kadri’s presence will not guarantee a championship, but it adds a sharper edge. His physicality won’t secure a title, but his ability to crawl under the opponent’s skin will create an advantage. His goal scoring won’t bring a Cup, but he ensures they will no longer be naked in odd-man advantages.
It is Cup or Bust?
“I understand the rationale of that question. I do,” said MacFarland, who has positioned this team to win rings this season and next. “There are a lot of good teams and only one will be happy at the end of it. It has to happen on the ice.”
And the Avs have more than a few good men to pull it off.
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