Size.
Strength.
Playoff Experience.
Nazeem Kadri & Nicolas Roy.
Two Stanley Cup Winners. Both with a chance to win another cup wearing the same jersey.
Naz is officially back in the Mile High City, and Roy found himself in an unfathomably great situation.
What else does this team need for weapons?
Could Roy and Kadri be the two missing pieces to improve the strength that’ll efficiently improve Colorado’s below-par powerplay scoring chances?
Colorado might have just cemented their run for, the Lord Stanley. The last time the Avalanche acquired a player with the last name Roy, they went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Roy, a big physical gritty center willing to hit, instigate, and answer the bell when it’s time to drop the gloves.
Kadri, a decent-sized physical center that can, hit, score, set up plays, and agitate opponents beyond measure. The chemistry is already there.
As if the Avalanche couldn’t get any scarier, management cobbled together two tremendous additions to enhance the Av’s roster with even more depth than they already have at the center position. Giving them the deepest center depth in the league armed to the teeth with MacKinnon, Nelson, Kadri, Roy, Drury. Colorado’s front office has been very consistent in making intelligent trades that gives them a chance to make a deep playoff run every year.
With the trade of former Toronto Maple Leaf Nicolas Roy for a conditional 2027 1st Round Pick, 2026 5th Round Pick, and the return of the “Kad Monster” and a 2027 4th Round Pick for Victor Olofsson, Max Curran, a conditional 2027th 2nd Round Pick, a conditional 2028 1st Round Pick, and having Calgary retain 20% of Kadri’s contact, the Avalanche are looking like a legitimate “All-Star” team that can’t be outhustled on or off the ice. Kadri will carry a $5.6 million cap hit for the remainder of his contract with Colorado.
Colorado Avalanche Head Coach, Jared Bednar couldn’t be happier with the potential of this team with the recent upgrades:
“I’m really happy with it. I mean, it’s not easy to do. It’s a big day for C-Mac and his staff. I think every time you add someone you get excited about that and depth, what they could bring, the flexibility it brings to your lineup, and the when you add a player like Naz at the end of it when I thought that it was probably over. Then you start to get really excited because it’
- – Colorado Avalanche Head Coach, Jared Bednar
There’s a chance that we could witness a repeat Stanley Cup game of the Colorado Avalanche beating the Tampa Bay Lightning now that the Boltz have also brought back a familiar face, Corey Perry, continuing the “Perry Cup Curse”. With that being said, the Lord Stanley might be making its way back to Colorado by time June rolls around.
Dante Robinson | Senior NHL Analyst for The NSR Network
