Nazem Kadri was downright awesome in 2023–24. He led the team in points with 75 and seemingly carried them on his back most nights. In 2024–25 however, that hasn’t been the case through twelve games.
Kadri has looked visibly frustrated on some nights. He’s a minus-10 on the season, which is seven lower than the next player on the list, Yegor Sharangovich, at minus-3. Kadri has taken nine minor penalties, which leads the team. He’s got six points in twelve games so far, which is a massive drop from last season. Let’s just say it hasn’t been the start that Kadri or the Flames have hoped for.
Here are his 5v5 score- and venue-adjusted results through 12 games from NaturalStatTrick.com:
| CF% | xGF% | SCF% | HDCF% | GF% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nazem Kadri | 46.05% | 44.18% | 44.34% | 38.62% | 17.37% |
| Team Rank (out of 22 players) | 12th | 16th | 17th | 22nd | 21st |
At 5v5, Kadri has been on the ice for two goals for and nine against. He is last on the team in HDCF% with a damning 38 high-danger chances against so far. One positive is that he isn’t ranked nearly as bad in CF%, which means he is generating chances. But those chances haven’t been particularly great. However, if we look at some other factors, Kadri could be due for an uptick in his game.
Why Kadri is likely to rebound
One thing to point out is Kadri is last on the team with a PDO of 0.944. That means he can expect to see some positive regression. There is no way the team is going to continue shooting 2.25% when he is on the ice. He’s among the team leaders in offensive zone starts and I would bet on that continuing. He’s also seen a variety of linemates over the last few games. I would imagine they try something like Zary – Kadri – Kuzmenko against Montreal tonight and seeing if that sticks.
The other reason why I think he’ll rebound? Nazem Kadri is a competitor. He knows better than anyone that he hasn’t been playing up to the standards he’s set. He’s embraced being the underdog his entire career. Especially at the start of this season when he asked reporters to quiet the trade talk and noise. He liked that no one predicted the Flames were going to be a good team this year. He was a huge part in their 5–0–1 start. They’ve come down to earth now that he’s struggled.
This is something to watch going forward. The numbers suggest Kadri is due for some positive regression. But Father Time is a stranger to no one. After turning 34, he could just be falling off due to age. But I think he’s still got more in the tank. This will certainly be a storyline worth watching as the season continues on. Will Kadri rebound as the numbers suggest he should, or will this develop into a larger issue?
