Should the Blackhawks make a push for Kadri this Summer?
Nazem Kadri is having himself a playoff run racking in 5 goals and 5 assists through 10 games. But as the Avalanche prep for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oilers, Kadri is still a pending UFA for the summer.
Which begs the question, should the Blackhawks make a serious push to bring in Kadri this summer? Now while there is no guarantee he is looking to leaves the Avs this summer, they might not be able to afford him after his performance this year.
Coming off a career best regular season of 87 points in only 71 games Kadri has shown he's worth more than his current $4.5 mill cap hit. How much would he get on the open market though? His scoring pace this year of 1.23 points per game is almost double what his career average was before this season of .64 . It is also worth taking into consideration he was given a larger role on then previous years. Due to injuries he was able to able to spend time playing with some of Colorado's top players giving him 19:14 minutes of average time on ice (ATOI) 2 minutes more than his career average ATOI of 17:06.
Plus Kadri's game is more than just contributing on offense. He is responsible defensively and plays with an edge making him one of the leagues best pest. He excels at playing on the edge, a willingness to go into tough areas, and getting under the opponent's skin. He's the kind of player every team and fans would love to have and hate to play against.
Now what does this mean for the Blackhawks should they choose to pursue him this summer? He would certainly fill a much needed role as the top line center which the Blackhawks will desperatley need as they start their rebuild. All signs seem to point towards them moving on from Dylan Strome, possibly even Jonathan Toews, and questions on whether Kirby Dach can be an elite center at the NHL level are certainly warranted so far. So the need for an elite center is there, even more so when thinking about how Lukas Reichel was drafted as a winger before being moved to center in Rockford, which might foreshadow the new front office regime's faith in Dach.
But Kadri will be 32 before the start of next season, and is due for a significant raise this summer. With players like Dach needing a new contract and Debrincat eligible for extension this summer (and Seth Jones's $9.5 million contract kicking in) would they be willing to back up the Brinks Truck to land Kadri? While he's certainly the type of player you'd want on your team, given his age, expected cap hit, and direction of the franchise it just doesn't seem like a fit for either side at this point in time. While Kadri would certainly help the team now (if he even wanted to come to a rebuilding team) the rebuilding Hawks should probably focus their free agency budget on veteran players they can flip at upcoming trade deadlines to contenders to stock pile more assets for the rebuild while nurturing the next wave of youngsters.
Feel free to share your thoughts on if Kadri should be a focus of the Hawks this summer in the comments and by participating in the poll below!
| POLL | ||
Should the Hawks make a push for Kadri this summer? | ||
| YES! They need a top line center! | 22 | 14.8 % |
| No that would stunt the rebuild! | 53 | 35.6 % |
| Probably not but he would be fun to watch! | 33 | 22.1 % |
| Depends on other moves they make this summer. | 41 | 27.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
