It’s no secret that scoring is a huge question mark for this Calgary Flames team. I tried to answer where scoring would come from in my article following the recent road trip, but I landed on a fairly pessimistic outlook: Elias Lindholm will have to contribute, Nazem Kadri needs to do a ton more, Andrew Mangiapane should be a secondary threat, and Matt Coronato shouldn’t be relied on to bite off more than he can chew.
The lines below serve a sole purpose: unlocking Nazem Kadri as an offensive threat by moving him to the wing. As a left-handed shooter, could his lack of chemistry with Jonathan Huberdeau be solved by playing on the same line as Huberdeau, but not in the centre position? Since Mikael Backlund tends to make everyone he plays with better, could Kadri benefit from playing on Backs’ wing?
Let’s take a look at what Calgary Flames lines could look like by breaking the narrative that Kadri needs to be a centreman here. After all, he’s played on the wing before…
Calgary Flames lines – Option 1: Kadri with Lindholm and Huberdeau
Huberdeau – Lindholm – Kadri
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Dubé – Ruzicka – Coronato
Greer – Sharangovich – Duehr
Calgary Flames lines – Option 2: Kadri with Backlund and Coleman
Huberdeau – Lindholm – Mangiapane
Kadri – Backlund – Coleman
Dubé – Ruzicka – Coronato
Greer – Sharangovich – Duehr
Benching or healthy scratching Kadri isn’t the solution (as suggested by callers on last night’s radio post-game show with Pat Steinberg). He’s going to be a Calgary Flame for this season and then another half-decade. He needs to be supported and put in a situation to find his mojo. Perhaps playing on the wall with one of Calgary’s two best centres taking the responsibility of the middle away from him would be worth trying. Kadri would be able to play a more north-south game and would not be as responsible for the defensive aspects of the game.
Further food for thought is that in addition to Adam Ruzicka and Yegor Sharangovich, both Dillon Dubé and Blake Coleman have been NHL centres.
Just because he was signed as a $7 million centre doesn’t mean Nazem Kadri needs to be deployed as a $7 million centre, especially if next to nothing is being accomplished. He finished his first season with the Flames as a -19 player and is on track to obliterate that mark in 2023-24, already -8 through only six games. Kadri has one assist and a big fat bagel in the goal department through those six games for an early-season pace of 0.167 points per game.
Would you be in favour of 91taking a spin on the wing?