Blue Jackets Acquire Valeri Nichushkin
According to a team announcement, the Colorado Avalanche have traded winger Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2026 second-round pick, 2027 third-round pick, and 2028 fifth-round pick.
As recently as Monday, there was a growing expectation that the Avalanche would look to move Nichushkin at some point this summer. It’s no secret that Colorado is seeking more financial flexibility with looming extensions needed for defenseman Cale Makar and winger Artturi Lehkonen. Unfortunately, as much as he was a fan favorite in Denver, Nichushkin became the odd man out fairly quickly.
Nichushkin, 31, is signed through the 2029-30 season at a $6.125MM salary. Instead of being the fifth-highest-paid forward with the Avalanche, Nichushkin is now the highest-paid forward in Columbus, before any additional moves the team may make this offseason.
Despite being a first-round pick of the Dallas Stars back in the 2013 NHL Draft, Nichushkin moved to Colorado as a non-tendered unrestricted free agent ahead of the 2019-20 season. It turned out to be one of the more prudent free agent additions for the Avalanche in recent memory.
Since joining the Avalanche, Nichushkin has scored 131 goals and 283 points in 404 games, averaging approximately 18 minutes of ice time per game. He’s been equally productive in the postseason, registering 27 goals and 40 points in 74 postseason games in the burgundy and blue, helping Colorado to the franchise’s third Stanley Cup championship in 2022.
As much as his offensive contributions and 6’4″, 210lbs frame have been a boon to Colorado in the postseason, Nichushkin has had some significant injury concerns over the past several years. Dating back to the 2021-22 campaign, Nichushkin has only been available for approximately 65% of Colorado’s regular-season contests.
Regardless, that’s seemingly a risk the Blue Jackets are willing to take, especially given the price. Yes, the Blue Jackets are down to only one selection in the top-65 of this weekend’s draft, but they have now found a replacement for Mason Marchment without having to part with a first-round selection.
If Nichushkin can remain healthy for the Blue Jackets, he should be able to give them a 20-goal, 50-point campaign. Columbus already added some additional top-six scoring on the right side by acquiring Conor Garland at last year’s deadline, and now they have Nichushkin to put on the left. He may not be as overtly physical as Marchment, but Nichushkin has nearly 40 more games of postseason experience under his belt.
Make no mistake, that’s what motivated this trade. As much as the Blue Jackets may have hoped to keep Marchment, they are clearly not going to sit on their hands to see if he accepts their extension offer. Instead, Columbus pivoted toward Nichushkin, with the hope of returning to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Meanwhile, barring any additional moves, the Avalanche will head into the 2026 NHL Draft with approximately $11MM in cap space and 10 selections after the first round. Still, as previously mentioned, although Colorado is expected to make more additions to the roster, much of the motivation behind this trade is the looming extension for Makar, which could reach $20MM a season.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron of USA TODAY Sports.
Avalanche Exploring Options For Valeri Nichushkin
On today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the Colorado Avalanche have included winger Valeri Nichushkin in trade talks. Friedman didn’t allude to how much the Avalanche were pushing for a Nichushkin trade, but it’s no secret that Colorado is looking for more financial flexibility heading into the summer months.
Nichushkin, 31, is signed through the 2029-30 season with a $6.125MM salary. Fortunately for the Avalanche, he only has a 12-team no-trade clause, meaning they could discuss Nichushkin in trade talks with over half of the league.
Throughout his time with the Avalanche, Nichushkin has been hampered by injury concerns. From the start of the 2021-22 season to the end of the 2024-25 season, Nichushkin played a total of 212 games, making him available for approximately 64.6% of Colorado’s contests.
Still, even though injuries were a concern, he was producing when on the ice. Throughout that span, Nichushkin registered 91 goals and 186 points, which would have been good for around 35 goals and 72 points on an 82-game average. Nevertheless, Nichushkin never actually reached the 30-goal plateau, making his over-$6MM salary difficult to swallow at times.
However, Nichushkin put those injury concerns behind him this past season. He still missed 10 games, but it was the first time he had played in 70 or more games in a season since the 2015-16 campaign, when he was only 20 years old. His goal scoring left much to be desired, but he still had a respectable year as a second-line winger, scoring 17 goals and 49 points while averaging 17:44 of ice time.
Additionally, there are a few other aspects of Nichushkin’s game that other teams will be interested in. He’s got good size and isn’t afraid to use it, especially in the postseason. In the playoffs, Nichushkin has been an effective offensive player, scoring 24 goals in his last 49 postseason games.
If Colorado does end up moving him this offseason, it’ll likely be for help on the blue line. The Avalanche will have the flexibility to fill out the rest of their forward corps with depth signings, but have only four defensemen signed through next season.
Depending on how his no-trade list looks, the Avalanche could look to trade Nichushkin to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Dougie Hamilton with some salary retention. No, it wouldn’t give Colorado the short-term flexibility, but it gets them out of Nichushkin’s contract two years earlier while plugging another important part of the roster.
Central Notes: Bedard, Kerfoot, Nichushkin
The Blackhawks have a big-ticket contract this summer with center Connor Bedard in need of a new deal. It doesn’t appear as if talks are going well thus far as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times relays that it doesn’t sound like they’ve made much progress in those discussions. The top pick in 2023 is coming off his best season so far, one that saw him pick up 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games but it’s widely expected that his best years are still to come. Accordingly, the two sides are going to be building a deal that pays him with the expectation of those big seasons. Pope speculates that the AAV could land between $13MM and $16MM depending on the term of the agreement. An eight-year deal can be signed until mid-September but Bedard’s camp could push for a shorter-term contract to allow him to sign a bigger one down the road.
More from the Central:
- The Mammoth are hoping to re-sign pending unrestricted free agent Alexander Kerfoot, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. At this point, discussions aren’t believed to be close but they’re still in talks. The 31-year-old is coming off an injury-riddled campaign that saw him play in a career-low 34 games where he had seven goals and six assists. Kerfoot’s output has ticked down a bit as of late but he still has two seasons of at least 45 points out of the last five while his positional versatility adds some value as well. He’s coming off a deal that saw him make $3MM and given the demand for centers this summer, Kerfoot could potentially beat that if he makes it to the open market.
- Having already moved out Ross Colton to open up some cap space, Sean Keeler of The Denver Post suggests that the Avalanche’s next move should be to deal winger Valeri Nichushkin. The 31-year-old has been a quality top-six winger when he’s at his best but between injuries and time in the Player Assistance Program, availability has been an issue for him while he’s coming off an underwhelming performance in the playoffs after putting up 49 points in 72 games during the regular season. Nichushkin has four years left on his contract at $6.125MM per year and moving him out would open up a lot more flexibility for GM Joe Sakic to work with. However, it would also create an opening to fill in their top six and Nichushkin’s overall track record is good enough to drum up some interest.
Colorado Avalanche Facing Another Summer Cap Crunch
The unfortunate reality of a salary-cap world is that success becomes a punishment that snowballs over time, as it leads to more expensive rosters year after year. That is where the Colorado Avalanche find themselves this summer after winning the Presidents’ Trophy this season. The Avalanche have massive money committed to their core, with new extensions set to kick in, other players seeking raises, and roster holes sure to be created by tough decisions coming Colorado’s way. The trade of superstar Mikko Rantanen last year was supposed to help the team avoid long-term cap issues, but just 16 months later, they are headed towards cap trouble anyway. As of today, Colorado has just under $3MM in available cap space with just 17 players signed, making it impossible to ice a full roster as currently constructed (all numbers via PuckPedia). The Avalanche have no choice but to make tough decisions, especially if they want to re-sign Jack Drury, who was one of the pieces in the Rantanen trade.
Since the Avalanche moved on from Rantanen, they have made three key moves that have consumed roughly $25MM in cap space. Those moves included acquiring and extending Martin Necas and Brock Nelson, as well as the trade-deadline pickup of Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames. These moves aren’t the primary reason Colorado is in cap trouble, but they’ve taken up a huge chunk of cap space and left the team top-heavy.
It was clear in the Vegas series that Colorado’s depth wasn’t enough to advance past the Western Conference Finals, and it’s hard to see that depth improving anytime soon. None of the moves for Necas, Nelson or Kadri were bad, and they were clearly made to give the team more firepower for an inevitably difficult playoff series. But when you add the contracts of defensemen Devon Toews ($7.25MM) and Cale Makar ($9MM), as well as forwards Gabriel Landeskog ($7MM) and Valeri Nichushkin ($6.125MM), you have another $30MM committed to the top of the team’s lineup, which eats away at depth.
Now, that issue hasn’t necessarily happened yet to the Avalanche. Through the first two rounds of this year’s playoffs, they received plenty of depth scoring, but that dried up against Vegas, and some forwards are going to need to be moved. This will always be an issue for top teams, as their cheap depth gets cycled out yearly when those players get to play with a team’s top stars, inflate their statistics, and cash in elsewhere. This makes it difficult to keep secondary scoring in the fray and forces the team to try to find cheap depth on the open market or bring up AHL players who may not be ready for the NHL. This is something that Florida and Vegas have done a great job of in recent years, but it’s become more of a struggle for Colorado, which may need to move several mid-tier contracts out the door or a top-tier player.
The obvious depth player to move is forward Ross Colton, who had a disappointing campaign with just 24 points in 73 games. Colton ranks 22nd on Chris Johnston’s offseason trade board and has one year left on his $4MM contract. Colorado can’t afford that kind of price tag on a bottom-six forward, but moving him alone will not be close to enough.
Another potential depth piece to move out is the recently acquired forward Nicolas Roy. The Avalanche picked up the 29-year-old from the Toronto Maple Leafs before the trade deadline in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 2027 and a fifth-round draft pick in 2026. Roy took some time to settle into the lineup but had a decent playoff showing in the first two rounds before going ice cold in the Western Conference Finals. However, even moving Roy along with Colton wouldn’t exactly solve the issues, as their absence would create two additional roster holes, leaving Colorado with just under $10MM in cap space and eight players to sign.
Roy might be worth keeping for one more season, given his low salary, but Colorado faces a difficult choice: a big talent has to go, or some combination of higher-end roster players has to go. Artturi Lehkonen and his $4.5MM could be moved, but the best move might be to send out Colton and Nichushkin. That would free up an additional $10.125MM. Colorado would then have a few internal options to bring back and fill out their roster. AFP Analytics projects Drury to earn around $3MM per year on a three-year deal, while Zakhar Bardakov is likely looking at a one-year deal at league minimum ($850K). Bringing in defenseman Brent Burns would also cost around $1MM, leaving Colorado with around $8MM under the cap and just five players to sign. It’s not an impossible task, but not an ideal one either.
Then there is the looming Makar extension that management will try to iron out this summer. That contract will likely make Makar the highest-paid defenseman in the NHL, topping the likes of Rasmus Dahlin and perhaps falling in the $13MM to $15MM range. If the negotiations drag into the summer or training camp, they could create an elephant in the room for Colorado.
This summer could be quiet for the Avalanche, but it could also be one in which they pivot, trying to get a little younger and perhaps a little less expensive. All will be answered in the future, but it could be a tough summer for Avalanche fans as they watch their roster plateau while the teams around them look to improve.
Injury Notes: MacKinnon, Nichushkin, Smith
The Western Conference Final has taken a turn for the worse for the Colorado Avalanche. After a devastating 5-3 loss in Game 3 on Sunday, the Avalanche find themselves in a 3-0 series hole against the Vegas Golden Knights, with their Stanley Cup aspirations hanging by a thread.
According to Sportsnet’s Eric Francis, there is currently no definitive update on the status of Nathan MacKinnon or Valeri Nichushkin. Both players are dealing with lower-body injuries sustained during Sunday’s contest and are undergoing treatment today. MacKinnon, who leads the team in postseason scoring with 15 points, suffered his injury in the second period after bravely blocking a shot. Despite clearly favoring his leg and receiving limited ice time in the third period, he managed to finish the game. Nichushkin also exited early and saw only 8:34 of ice time. With the season on the brink, Colorado’s coaching staff will likely hold off on any roster decisions until the final pregame media availability on Tuesday.
Conversely, the news coming out of the Vegas camp is far more optimistic. Following a gritty performance in Game 3, head coach John Tortorella provided a reassuring update regarding winger Cole Smith. Smith took a hard hit late in the game that left some observers concerned, but Tortorella confirmed that there is no concern regarding his status moving forward. The Vegas depth has been a massive factor in their comeback series lead, and Smith appears set to remain in the lineup as they look to secure a sweep.
The Avalanche now face a do-or-die scenario in Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena. Whether Colorado can force a fifth game at home on Thursday will depend heavily on the medical reports of their star players and their ability to bounce back from the frustration of blowing a three-goal lead on Sunday night. Puck drop for Game 4 is scheduled for 9:00 PM ET on Tuesday.
Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin, Nicolas Roy Back From Injury
The Colorado Avalanche will have to shake up their lineup in Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Nicolas Roy are both set to return from their upper-body injuries per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Roy was knocked out of the lineup before March 24th’s win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was not clear when he sustained the injury, though head coach Jared Bednar emphasized that the team was being careful to not rush him back. Nichushkin sat out of Sunday’s loss to the Blues but has otherwise had a healthy stretch as of late.
The pair of additions will bring Colorado up to a fully healthy roster, except for one crucial piece. Star defenseman Cale Makar isn’t expected to return for “a few more games” Bednar told Masisak. Makar is still expected to return before the end of the season, which would set his return as one of Colorado’s three games next week.
Colorado will wield a fully-healthy offense, plus Trade Deadline additions Nazem Kadri and Roy, for the first time with this news. The top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen is likely inseparable, which would leave Colorado’s middle-six as the housing for Roy and Nichushkin. The latter has spent much of the year alongside Gabriel Landeskog and Brock Nelson. The trio have recorded nine goals-for and six goals-against in their time together – but Kadri’s recent run of seven points in his last 10 games could force Colorado to bump him into the top-six. If it does, Nichushkin will move to Roy’s wing on the third line, likely across from Ross Colton.
That would bring some serious firepower to the Avalanche’s bottom-six. Nichushkin has scored 15 goals and 45 points in 66 games this season. That is a 56-point scoring pace across 82 games, a mark that would narrowly beat out Nichushkin’s career-high 53 points set in 54 games of the 2023-24 season. Roy has notched three goals, 13 penalty minutes, and a minus-two in nine games since joining the Avalanche at the Trade Deadline. The combination of skill and aggression between the pair could be a secret weapon as Colorado looks to make another deep run in the playoffs.
Central Notes: Rantanen, Nichushkin, Predators
The Dallas Stars are the latest team struck by the flu, as Mikko Rantanen will not play tonight as a result of the illness, as first reported by Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas News. In a skid of late where they’ve dropped six of their last 10, including three in a row, the Stars will host the surging Bruins without their leading scorer, who has 63 points in 48 games.
Rantanen will look ahead to later in the week, as his Stars are in action Thursday and Friday, but do not play in the upcoming weekend. For now, Nathan Bastian will slot into the lineup, the 28-year-old posting three goals in 22 games this season in limited fourth line duty.
Elsewhere across the division:
- Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin also missed action for abnormal reasons; he was involved in a car accident while heading to the rink before last night’s contest, Head Coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Unfortunately, Nichushkin came away with minor injuries, and is considered questionable for tomorrow against Anaheim. The Russian has continued to be a valuable secondary scorer for the Avs with 27 points in 38 games, and could return as soon as tomorrow against Anaheim. Even without him, Colorado handled business last night, defeating Washington 5-2.
- Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz told reporters, including Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Pucks, that he has yet to speak to pending unrestricted free agents Michael Bunting, Michael McCarron, and Cole Smith. All aged 30 as the Predators build for the future, Bunting especially could bring intrigue to contenders, although he has a $4.5MM cap hit. The agitating winger has continued his steady offensive output this season, on pace for 20 goals. Bunting has also stayed out of the penalty box, an improvement from previous seasons. On the other hand, McCarron and Smith are both pillars on Nashville’s fourth line, and could be candidates for reasonable extensions rather than Trotz taking limited trade returns for his towering role players.
Avalanche Reassign Alex Barre-Boulet To AHL
8:28 PM: Today’s recalls were short-lived as following the game, the Avs announced that both Barre-Boulet and Ivan were sent back to the Eagles.
3:07 PM: The Colorado Avalanche made one more recall before Monday’s home contest against the Washington Capitals. Depth forward Alex Barre-Boulet was called up to the NHL roster after it was announced that winger Valeri Nichushkin would miss Monday’s game with an upper-body injury. Fellow recall Ivan Ivan will also appear in the lineup.
This will be Barre-Boulet’s first NHL contest since playing in the first two games of the Montreal Canadiens’ 2024-25 season. He posted no scoring, one penalty, and a minus-two in those contests – prompting the Canadiens to send Barre-Boulet to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for the season. The veteran forward proved a tremendous boost to Laval’s roster. He led the team in scoring with 63 points in 64 regular season games and 11 points in 13 playoff games.
That strong year prompted another change of scenery this summer. Barre-Boulet moved from Laval to the Colorado Eagles, where he has held onto his touch. He leads the Eagles in points in 37 in 36 games this season. Now, the Avalanche will reward that scoring in a time of need, and bring Barre-Boulet back into the NHL fold. He played in 68 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning between 2020 and 2024, scoring 12 goals and 18 points. Much of Barre-Boulet’s time in the NHL has come on the fourth-line, a trend that should continue in Colorado.
The depth addition won’t quite help the Avalanche make up for Nichushkin’s absence. The toolsy, Russian winger has 11 goals and 27 points in 38 games this season. He snapped a six-game scoring drought with a point on Friday – but racked up a lofty 14 points in as many games during December. Even after a recent dry spell, Nichushkin remains cemented in Colorado’s top-nine, and leaves multiple holes in the lineup. The Avalanche will lean on Barre-Boulet, Ross Colton, and Gavin Brindley to collectively make up for Nichushkin’s absence.
Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin Returning To Lineup
The Avalanche will have winger Valeri Nichushkin back in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Canucks, Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now reports. He was never placed on injured reserve, so no corresponding move is required.
While Nichushkin remains a core piece of Colorado’s top six forward group, the first-place Avs haven’t looked worse for wear without him. Since Nichushkin went down with a lower-body injury on Nov. 11, the Avs have gone 7-0-1 and still have a four-point gap on first place with an 18-1-6 record overall. Their first and only regulation loss came more than a month ago against the Bruins on Oct. 25.
Nichushkin was ruled week-to-week as a result of his injury, but it was clear in the past couple of days that his return was imminent. He’s no stranger to lengthy absences, notwithstanding his stints in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in the last few years. Ankle issues took out a good portion of his 2022-23 campaign, and he missed 21 games with a lower-body issue last year.
Still, the 10th overall pick back in 2013 has been an elite two-way presence since his big breakout with the Avs in 2021-22. In the five years since, he’s recorded a 96-102–198 scoring line in 226 games while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. Among players with at least 100 appearances during that time, Nichushkin’s 0.86 points per game rank 58th and his +54 rating ranks 27th. His production has dipped since last season’s return from another stint in the program, though. He’s put up a more conservative 5-7–12 scoring line in 17 games this year and has churned out 0.77 points per game since the beginning of 2024-25.
Captain Gabriel Landeskog‘s return from a multi-year absence has eaten into Nichushkin’s ice time this season, bringing it down to around the 18-minute mark. His reduced output should likely remain the expectation going forward, but that’s still spectacular value for his $6.125MM cap hit as he trods along through the fourth season of his eight-year deal. His line with Landeskog and Brock Nelson has been dominant at controlling play – as has virtually every line combo Colorado’s rolled out this year – controlling 60.7% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.
Injury Notes: Foerster, Carlo, Nichushkin
The Philadelphia Flyers announced mid game that forward Tyson Foerster will not return after sustaining an upper-body injury. The winger unloaded on a one-timer and immediately went down in a non-contact play, appearing to favor his shoulder. Although Foerster was on injured reserve earlier this season, it was a lower-body injury with no apparent correlation.
Foerster, 23, was a great find at 23rd overall by the Flyers in 2020. The 6’2” winger has scored nine goals in 20 games, on track to take another step forward after last year’s 25 goal, 18 assist campaign where he appeared in 81 games. Especially as Philadelphia has found their stride of late, firmly in the Wild Card mix as of today, the hope will be that the top line forward will not be out for long.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Toronto Head Coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News that defenseman Brandon Carlo had a setback in his recovery, and will return home to see a specialist. Placed on IR two weeks ago, the 29-year-old has been dealing with a lower-body injury. As he practiced in recent days, it appeared Carlo could be gearing up for a return tomorrow at Florida, before the setback. The towering blueliner’s struggles to acclimate to the Leafs have been well discussed, especially considering the steep package GM Brad Treliving gave up. Troy Stecher, claimed off waivers, has been a steady presence to alleviate pressure on Philippe Myers in Carlo’s absence, but if the Leafs are to turn their season around, Carlo must find his game when healthy.
- Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar told Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports that forward Valeri Nichushkin is a “possibility” for tomorrow, as Colorado hosts Vancouver. The often injured 30-year-old went down with a lower-body ailment against the Ducks on November 12th and was listed as week-to-week. When ready, Nichushkin will likely jump right back into a top-six role where he had 12 points in 17 games before going down. In his absence, Ross Colton has filled in adequately and the team has not missed a beat, currently atop the league with just one regulation loss, a sign of their depth after a wildly successful roster shakeup.