Nazem Kadri spent much of his summer preparing for a season that may ask him to do a little bit of everything.
The Avalanche center said Friday that he and Bednar have already talked about the possibility of him sliding around the lineup, including time on the wing. That meant extra work away from the usual routine, with Kadri putting time into wall play and other details a winger needs to handle.
“Bedsy and I have talked, and I’m assuming I’ll fill in different positions this year, and I’m okay with that,” Kadri said Friday. “I’ve worked a lot this summer on some wall play and some specific things a winger might do because I kind of had the anticipation that I might be in that position eventually.
“I feel like last year’s reps, playing playoff hockey on the wing, I don’t think the reps get any more quality than that. So after that experience, I feel a lot more comfortable on the side.”
That flexibility could matter for Colorado, which has Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Fedor Svechkov, and potentially Nic Roy in the center picture while also dealing with the departures of Valeri Nichushkin and Ross Colton from the forward group. Depending on how younger winger options such as Gavin Brindley, T.J. Hughes, and Zachary L’Heureux develop, Kadri may be used wherever the Avalanche need him most.
For Kadri, who turns 36 in October, this is also a return to familiar territory. He is back for his first training camp with Colorado since 2021, after leaving in 2022 to sign with Calgary.
At the time, the Flames were supposed to contend. Instead, they missed the playoffs in each of Kadri’s three full seasons there before he was traded back to Colorado just ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline.
That return put him back in the kind of meaningful hockey he had been missing. Colorado’s run to the Western Conference Final last spring was his first playoff action since the Stanley Cup win, and he knows those chances do not come around forever.
“I don’t think I take this opportunity for granted. I mean, I don’t think anybody should, playing for a contending team,” Kadri said. “I think you come in with a business mindset, grateful and anxious for the challenge.”
The role may look different than it did during Colorado’s championship run, but Kadri doesn’t sound interested in overcomplicating it. He pointed to Josh Manson’s move to the left side last season as an example of a veteran making an adjustment and making it work.
“As long as I’m on the ice, I feel good. That’s the mentality,” he said. “But obviously, [playing] down the middle, I’m okay with, too.”
Colorado’s season ended in harsh fashion in May, when the Avalanche were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. Before that, they swept the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and beat the Minnesota Wild in five games in Round 2, only to drop four straight to Vegas.
The Avalanche have called that series a bad week and made changes they hope will keep a similar finish from happening again. Kadri, though, isn’t spending much time on what went wrong.
“I already forgot about it. Unless we win, don’t really care,” he said.
“We had a great season, lots to be proud of. Obviously we ran into some issues towards the conference final, but hey, we were one of four teams to be the last ones standing, and we’re looking to get even further this year.”
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Cale Makar's Status Looms Over Avalanche's First Preseason Decisions
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The bigger storyline, though, remains Cale Makar, whose upper-body injury is keeping him out of the first two preseason games. The Avalanche are treating this as a cautious ramp-up, with the defenseman expected to skate individually before being available for later practices and games. For a team that will be sorting through line combinations and conditioning this week, his status is the one most worth watching. [Read more 🡒]