Russian forward Valeri Nichushkin expects to play for the Dallas Stars in 2018-19, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas News. He currently plays for CSKA Moscow in the KHL and will finish out the final year of his contract with the Russian club.
The Stars still retain Nichushkin’s rights as he left for the KHL after finishing his ELC contract, so he is still considered an RFA by the NHL. Nichushkin is valued enough by the Stars that they protected him in this summer’s expansion draft.
This season, Nichushkin scored 11G and 13A in 36 games for CSKA Moscow, and an additional 1G and 4A in the playoffs. In his last season with the Stars (2015-16), Nichushkin netted 9G and 20A in 79 games. The Stars obviously value him enough to protect him, and if he returns as a more-developed version of himself, it is a win-win for both player and organization. The player receives more playing time in his native country rather than limited NHL minutes—or riding the bus in the AHL—and the team has its asset develop without incurring salary expenditures or a salary cap hit.