The 2023-24 NHL regular season is officially over for the Calgary Flames. The team was effectively eliminated from the playoffs in early April and will not partake in any postseason games for the second consecutive season. The franchise has a litany of issues including goal scoring and consistent special teams performances, as well as underperforming, expensive players like Jonathan Huberdeau. However, Flames fans also have many things to look forward to such as multiple young roster players making strides and an abundance of upcoming draft picks after some big trades took place this season.
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Another big positive from 2023-24 was the rise in production from some of the team’s veteran players. Established professionals like Blake Coleman and MacKenzie Weegar both set new career highs in goals and points, among other accomplishments. But one player rose above the rest in terms of his ability to create offence and lead the incoming youth: top-line centre Nazem Kadri. The London, Ontario native just completed his second season as a Flame after being acquired via free agency in the 2022 offseason. Much skepticism arose when then-general manager Brad Treliving gave a then-32-year-old a seven-year, $49 million contract. He had just come off of a Stanley Cup win with the Colorado Avalanche, along with a career-high 87 points in 71 games. However, this was said to be his ceiling and he was a second-line centre at best, incapable of creating his own offence. His 2023-24 season should prove a lot of doubters wrong, and deserves further analysis.
Kadri’s Rise to the Occasion
Kadri started his Flames tenure with a respectable 24 goals and 56 points in 82 games after the 2022-23 campaign. Many were disappointed, but it is important to point out that at that time he was playing behind former number-one centre, Elias Lindholm. Kadri began this season the same, and sputtered with just one assist in his first eight games. After Lindholm’s early 2024 trade to the Canucks, Kadri had an opportunity to move up in the lineup. Over the next 74 games and a litany of different linemates, he recorded 29 goals and 74 points. This season stands as the second-best total of his career, after the aforementioned Cup-winning season with the Avalanche. He had 16 more points than the next-highest Flame, Yegor Sharangovich, who had 59 this season. Only Sharangovich and Coleman had more goals on the team than Kadri’s 29.
Kadri also stepped up when it mattered this season: he had four game-winning goals to go along with 10 assists on game-winners scored by his teammates. He was a big part of the late-season power play resurgence as well, scoring eight of his 22 power play points in the last 10 games. He also displayed an ability to be very versatile for rookie head coach Ryan Huska. Huska could seemingly slot him in on any line any night and find relative success. Kadri thrived for most of the season playing alongside rookies Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil, but also developed chemistry with newcomer Andrei Kuzmenko towards the tail end of the campaign. All in all, Kadri’s on-ice display was a masterpiece in 2023-24, and anyone wary of his playing abilities should effectively be silenced for now.
Positive Off-Ice Qualities Needed by Flames
It is not just on the ice where Kadri succeeded this season. This was a year where the Flames had an immense amount of unfortunately negative background noise; a handful of players wanted out or told the team they would not re-sign, and a couple of Flames had problems with drugs and sexual assault charges, amongst other things. While he didn’t do so singlehandedly, Kadri’s no-nonsense discussions with the media and determination to focus on the well-being of his team and their triumphs shone through the darkness.
Kadri’s leadership qualities also rose to prominence in multiple instances during the season. Burgeoning pupils such as Zary, Pospisil, Matt Coronato, and Jakob Pelletier all leaned on him and the rest of the leadership group for advice, and more youth will continue to do so in the future. In the recent team exit interviews, Kadri stated that he sees value in developing the younger generation. “Nas” is a well-documented positive locker room presence and also has the respect of his fellow veterans in addition to the youngsters.
During the same interview, Kadri doubled down and declared that he is able and willing to embrace the Flames’ rebuild. This can be hard for many veterans to admit, as every player wants the opportunity to compete with the best and win a Stanley Cup. Perhaps the fact that he has done so already leaves him with the capacity to help a franchise in a mentoring role instead. While this season was a tremendously good sign, there is still understandable worry that Kadri’s contract will age badly. He has a $7 million cap hit until the end of 2028-29, when he will be 38 years of age. Should he fall off, his contract would be difficult to move. To add to that difficulty, he has a full no-move clause until 2026-27, when it will change to a 13-team no-trade list. However, for the foreseeable future, Kadri will be the team’s unquestioned number-one centre until someone internally or externally usurps him.
All in all, Kadri’s 2023-24 season was one to remember. He put up the second-best statistical season of his career at 33, showcasing a valuable skill of flourishing with multiple linemates. While he didn’t light the league on fire, he kept his proverbial nose to the grindstone and displayed a work ethic and level of professionalism the Flames desperately require for a proper rebuild. While he may not continue to age like fine wine, Kadri is the Flames’ number-one centre as well as one of the team’s most important individuals.
