from Salim Valji of TSN,

As the Calgary Flames desperately try to stay in the Western Conference wild-card race, prized free-agent acquisition Nazem Kadri is playing fewer minutes than anyone anticipated last summer when he signed one of the biggest contracts in franchise history.

Kadri, Calgary’s lone All-Star this season, has not scored in 14 games but has eight assists over that span. Over the past three games, he has averaged 13:06 of ice time, well below fellow pivots Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund.

In the team’s 7-2 victory in Vegas on Thursday, he played a season-low 12:35, centering a line with Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis, two-thirds of Calgary’s usual fourth line. Kadri, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Flames in August, played the third-fewest minutes of any Flame and won just four of 12 faceoffs that evening.

“[Veteran, top guys] have to be better players,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said on Saturday ahead of the team’s 6-5 overtime loss to Dallas, when asked about Kadri’s diminished ice time.

Kadri attributed his recent struggles to bad luck, but said Saturday that he’s focused on staying consistent.

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