DALLAS — The Colorado Avalanche celebrated more than just one of its best wins of the season Friday night.
Just a few hours before the Avs came back from two goals down to defeat the Dallas Stars 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, who had to leave after winning the championship in 2022 but is back to help his old pals try to win another.
“It’s very exciting,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said after the 5-4 shootout win. “He’s a world-class player. He had 35 goals last year and continues to produce. He’s a gamer. We know that from the past. I love the guy, so it’s super exciting to bring him back into our room.”
Colorado had a successful lead-in to deadline day. Avalanche management had already checked three items off the wishlist:
Brett Kulak added size, improved defensive solidity to the back end Nicolas Roy as the new No. 3 center Nick Blankenburg as the new No. 7 defensemanThe Avs were already happy with their newfound center depth. Then, they added Kadri at the buzzer.
Now, Parker Kelly is the No. 6 option at center, while producing a career-year playing mostly on the wing. He was the club’s No. 3 option at center for a big chunk of last season, before Jack Drury arrived ahead of Roy and Kadri.
“It adds a guy we know really well.” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We’ve won with him before. It’s exciting. The guy’s got a lot of friends still on the team. He’s excited to come back. I’m excited to have him back. It’s another impact, dynamic player that you can put in your roster.
“We’ll see how it all sorts out eventually.”
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.
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.
“Super happy,” MacKinnon said. “Obviously, we’re pumped to have Naz back. It’s 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.”
“Obviously, it’s a lot of pressure on us. We’ve got to perform. Once again, our management’s going all in. We definitely appreciate (management) putting us in a good spot.”
The Avalanche was already atop the NHL standings. It’s been that way for closing in on four months. Colorado was already the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup.
Then the Avs won deadline day.
“You want to put yourself in a position where your management can go out and try to improve the team this time of year. That’s all you’re looking for,” Lankdeskog said. “We’ve got full faith in (general manager Chris MacFarland) and our staff to put the best team we possibly can on the ice. That’s something they’ve done. It gives us quite a bit of power through the middle and flexibility.”
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NBA needs to get defenders off knees of Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic | Renck & File Avalanche squeak past Stars in shootout after wild showdown between NHL’s best Avalanche bring back Nazem Kadri in trade from Flames Avalanche trades for Nicolas Roy, sending first- and fifth-round picks to Maple Leafs Avalanche trades for defense depth, acquires Nick Blankenburg from NashvilleIt 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).
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’s plausible that he could be in the lineup at Ball Arena against the Minnesota Wild.
“Knowing that I’m coming back to Colorado is just a dream come true,” Kadri said. “The situation they’ve put themselves in, and just me being able to tag along and add, I cannot wait.
“It’s surreal. It feels like deja vu all over again, and nostalgic, to say the least.”
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