It has certainly been an up-and-down year for the Calgary Flames—some players have had career-best years and some players are still trying to live up to expectations. One player in particular who is having one of the best years of his career, however, has been Nazem Kadri.
Kadri has quietly been having a great season for the Flames, even after the slow start he has had. While many think he is not worth his price tag, I personally think Kadri has lived up to the contract he earned in the summer of 2022, so let’s dig into the numbers.
Kadri had a horrendous start to the season
Kadri’s season has not been all sunshine and rainbows this year. When looking back at the beginning of the year, Kadri could not have looked more out of place than he did. He couldn’t gain any ground, he wasn’t skating well, wasn’t making good plays, and he wasn’t scoring either.
It just didn’t look like the same Kadri that came roaring out of the gates the year prior, it looked like the same player that had an awful end to that season. All of his underlying numbers were horrendous—some of the worst on the team at the time. At the time many thought that the big decline was here and that Father Time had come to claim Kadri.
Through his first eight games of the year, Kadri only had one assist and his first goal didn’t come until the Heritage Classic in late October, but that seemed to be the turning point.
Kadri’s early season turnaround
One game in particular seemed to have sparked Kadri’s offence, that game took place on November 1 against the Dallas Stars. What was so special about that game you might ask? Well, it was the game where Connor Zary skated in his first NHL contest… on a line with Kadri. That seemed to spark the veteran.
Kadri finished that game with two assists and it was maybe the best game that he had played as a Flame up until this point in time. He was all over it, and he along with the rookie Zary were cooking up some early chemistry that proved to be worth the hype.
Since then, Kadri has 43 points in his last 43 games, and that has put him on pace for 68 points this season, which would be the second-highest of his career. It has been quite the turnaround for #91.
What makes this season special for Kadri
The best season that Kadri has put together in the NHL was obviously the monster year in 2021–22 he put together as part of the Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche. He finished with 28 goals and 87 points in just 71 games, a pace that if he played all 82 games would have had him well above 100 points.
As I mentioned above, Kadri is on pace for just under 70 points, which would be a great year for the 33-year-old. That year in Colorado, Kadri had some superstars that he got to play at even strength and on the power play with like Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar just to name a few. That Avalanche team was loaded, and you can see why Kadri may have put up the numbers he did.
That is not to discredit Kadri at all though. To play with great players, you have to be great as well—and Kadri certainly was. However, when you look at this season, Kadri is putting up huge point totals with two rookies as his primary linemates, those being the aforementioned Zary and the surprise of the year in Martin Pospisil. While those two have been great in their own right, they most definitely are the likes of the guys in Colorado, which makes what Kadri has been doing even more spectacular, in my opinion.
Living up to the bill
Kadri has been everything the Flames have asked him to be since joining the team just under two years ago. He has been great on the ice, from what it looks like, great in the locker room (especially with the young players), and he has been a great ambassador not only for the Flames but for the entire league.
Whether or not the Flames will be any good this year or even in a few years, Kadri has been worth the contract that the Flames have him inked to, and if the Flames do make a push for the playoffs this year, I would bet on it being on the back of Kadri.
