Nazem Kadri’s return to the Colorado Avalanche was supposed to be the kind of move that clicks instantly. Instead, last season turned into a long search for the right place to put him.
Kadri came back at the last minute of the trade deadline and instantly brought back memories of Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup run, when his job was crystal clear: second-line center. But with Brock Nelson locked in as the 2C last season, Jared Bednar never really found a clean answer for where Kadri belonged.
That question is going to hang over the Avalanche again heading into the 2026-2027 season. If Colorado wants to keep rolling offensively, the coaching staff has to settle on a role for Kadri and stick with it.
The biggest decision starts with position. Kadri spent last season bouncing around the lineup, sometimes as the third-line center and other times on the wing with Nathan MacKinnon or Brock Nelson.
When the Avalanche needed a jolt, Bednar often moved him around in search of one. That kind of usage said plenty: Kadri was useful, but he never settled into a true identity.
So what is he best as now - center or wing?
At center, Kadri brings the play-driving responsibilities that come with the position. He would be the one steering the line’s offense, helping in transition, and handling the defensive work that comes with playing down the middle. On the wing, those duties shift to the centerman, and Kadri can lean more heavily into what he does best: creating offense.
If Bednar keeps him at center, there’s another layer to sort out. The conventional view is that Kadri would slide into the third-line center spot behind MacKinnon and Nelson. That would be a different kind of role for him, since he’s usually been a top-six player, but it would also give him a defined job and let the coaches build around him with the right wingers.
There’s also the possibility of pushing him back into the second-line center role he handled so well during the Cup run. That would mean moving Nelson down to 3C, but the logic is there: Nelson’s defensive strengths could fit a more goal-prevention role, while Kadri takes on the offensive load.
If Colorado uses Kadri on the wing, the central issue becomes which center he should be paired with. The point of that move would be to add more scoring to the top two lines, while also acknowledging that Kadri can be a bit awkward in a third-line role.
The numbers back that up. Of the 372 minutes he played at 5v5 during the regular season and playoffs, 165 of them - 44% - came with either MacKinnon or Nelson.
Colorado broke even with him on the ice as a center, but outscored opponents 9-5 at 5v5 when he was on the wing.
His production was roughly the same next to MacKinnon and Nelson, which leaves Bednar with a choice that matters for the whole line. If Kadri is going to be a winger, the Avalanche need to commit to the center beside him and give that group time to settle in.
The final piece is the one that may matter most: who he plays with.
Kadri’s role last season was so unsettled that he ended up spending more than 50 minutes at 5v5 with eight different Avalanche forwards. That kind of rotation makes it hard for any player to build chemistry, and it makes it even harder for a line to develop an identity. Bednar needs to give Kadri consistent linemates, no matter where he lines up.
The most-used partners were Nicolas Roy at 126:10, Martin Nečas at 99:50, Brock Nelson at 89:54, Ross Coton at 80:12, Nathan MacKinnon at 75:01, Logan O'Connor at 69:45, Gabriel Landeskog at 60:51 and Valeri Nichushkin at 50:40.
How Colorado handles Kadri will go a long way toward defining the Avalanche’s ceiling next season. If he finds the right fit and gives them the depth scoring they need, they can look like a real Stanley Cup contender again. If not, the same old problem could show up at the worst possible time.
In Other News...
Avalanche Lineup Idea Could Change Everything Up Front
As the Avalanche keep sorting through ways to reshape their forward group, one of the more interesting ideas floating around is a lineup that would push Nazem Kadri to the wing and let Nic Roy handle third-line center duties. It is the kind of tweak that would change the look of Colorados depth chart in a hurry, especially if the top six is reworked around a player who has spent so much of his career driving play down the middle.
There is also a broader league backdrop to the conversation, with Ryan Reaves still on the market and hoping to keep his career going before training camp. Elsewhere, Andrew Agozzino has moved from playing into coaching, a reminder of how quickly roster conversations can turn into bigger career crossroads across the NHL, even as Colorado keeps weighing what the right mix up front might look like. [Read more 🡒]
Former Avalanche First-Round Pick Is Still Trying To Prove Colorado Wrong
Cal Ritchies path since being taken 27th overall by the Avalanche in the 2023 NHL Draft has already taken a few turns, and Colorado has had a front-row seat for all of them. He got his first NHL look with the Avalanche, then went back to the OHL, and eventually found himself in a new organization trying to carve out a longer-term role at the sports highest level.
Ritchies latest stretch with the Islanders showed why there is still plenty of belief in his upside, even if the road has not been linear. After opening the year in the AHL with Bridgeport, he earned a recall and finished with 30 points in 65 NHL games, a reminder that he is still learning how to translate his game against top competition while spending the offseason working on his strength, skating and shot. [Read more 🡒]