Valeri Nichushkin Cleared To Resume Practicing
The NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program has cleared Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin to resume practicing with the team, the league said Monday.
Nichushkin is not yet cleared to return to game action by program administrators, but that step traditionally doesn’t come too long after a return to team activities. The Russian two-way force has been away from the Avs since entering the assistance program on Jan. 15.
Colorado cleared a roster spot for Nichushkin’s eventual return to play this morning by assigning Fredrik Olofsson to the AHL after he cleared waivers yesterday. Since Nichushkin’s $6.125MM cap hit has counted against their books while in the program, they won’t need to make any cap-clearing transactions to reinstate him to the active roster in the coming days or weeks.
The Avalanche remain active in discussions ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, including being recently linked to the Capitals’ Anthony Mantha, but a lack of cap space makes any additions hard to work in. Internally, the return of Nichushkin after a weeks-long absence, plus the potential return of captain Gabriel Landeskog down the stretch, will serve as their major deadline adds.
Nichushkin, 28, has been on a consistent upward climb since joining the Avs in 2019, and he’s capped things off with his best season yet in 2023-24. He’s one of four Avs players with over a point per game this year, notching 22 goals and 42 points in 40 games, along with a +9 rating. After helping Colorado to the Stanley Cup in 2022, Nichushkin inked an eight-year, $49MM extension that’s provided high-end value to the Avs thus far.
His pending return will allow recent veteran pickup Zach Parise, who has a goal and two assists through 10 games with Colorado, to drop down to a much more comfortable bottom-six role. He and Artturi Lehkonen will anchor their second line, hopefully providing enough support to aid the struggling Ryan Johansen in the 2C role.
Valeri Nichushkin Enters NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program
Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and will be out indefinitely, the league announced today (via NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding). Independent Avalanche reporter Adrian Dater reported the news earlier Monday.
Nichushkin will be stepping away from what’s been a very productive season. The 28-year-old currently ranks fourth on the Avalanche in scoring, with 22 goals and 42 points in 40 games. His point-per-game scoring has been shadowed by his linemates, though, with Nathan MacKinnon boasting 69 points, Mikko Rantanen with 55 points, and Cale Makar currently sitting on 48 points. These four, including Nichushkin, lead the Avalanche in average ice time alongside Makar’s defense partner Devon Toews.
Nichushkin is in his fifth season with the Avalanche, managing 189 points in 275 games with the club. That’s a 0.69 points-per-game pace, a large step above the 0.33 points-per-game that Nichushkin averaged in four seasons with the Dallas Stars. Dallas selected Nichushkin 10th overall in the 2013 NHL Draft, only a few picks after now-teammates MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin went in the top-three. Nichushkin made his NHL debut in the following season, scoring 14 goals and 34 points in 79 games as a rookie and ranking 12th in Calder Trophy voting.
But the next few years were inconsistent, as Nichushkin bounced between the Stars’ NHL and AHL lineups. He even left North American hockey altogether for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, opting instead to play with the KHL’s CSKA Moscow. The winger returned to Dallas for the 2018-19 season but failed to produce, netting only 10 assists and a -4 through 57 games. The Stars opted to buy-out his contract following this slow season, effectively shipping him off to the Avalanche, who signed Nichushkin to a one-year, $850K contract two months later.
Central Notes: Avalanche, Olausson, Bogosian, Heinola
After the team’s practice this morning, head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Jared Bednar issued several roster updates before the team takes on the Anaheim Ducks tonight. Most notably, after missing Colorado’s last game, Bednar asserted that defenseman Cale Makar is doubtful to return tonight (X Link).
Aside from Makar being doubtful, Bednar also mentioned that forward Andrew Cogliano would not be in the lineup due to a lower-body injury, and although Valeri Nichushkin missed practice due to being sick, he is expected to play tonight. Although they will be missing several key players in their lineup, this is exactly the situation the Avalanche were hoping to weather as they spent the entire offseason with a primary goal of addressing the team’s depth.
Of all three, Makar is by far the most important player to be missing out of the lineup. Arguably the most important part of Colorado’s lineup, Makar continues to make his case for the best player in the entire league, as he has seven goals and 34 points in 23 games, while also maintaining some of the best defensive metrics among all defensemen.
Other notes:
- Before Bednar had spoken to reports about the lineup tonight, the Avalanche announced they had recalled forward Oskar Olausson for tonight’s game. Colorado’s first-round selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, Olausson has yet to play for the Avalanche this season, after playing in one game last year. Playing for their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, Olausson has five goals and eight points in 20 games, sitting seventh on the team in scoring.
- Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild defenseman, Zach Bogosian, is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning to provide more defensive prowess into the lineup, Bogosian has one assist in nine games for the Wild, averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time per night.
- Suffering an ankle injury during this year’s preseason, the rehab for Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Ville Heinola was expected to be between two and three months. In an update on his progression, reports are confirming that Heinola has returned to skating, although he is still not skating in full equipment (X Link). The timeline should still be accurate to project his return, but it is nonetheless a positive that he has not experienced a setback in his recovery process.
Injury Updates: Zary, Martinez, Avalanche
Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, according to a team announcement. He did not dress for the Flames’ loss to the Nashville Predators, though the day-to-day nature of the absence does leave a chance for him to return in time for the Flames’ contest tomorrow in Dallas.
The loss of Zary, 22, is a significant one for the Flames, as he’s quickly emerged as one of the team’s more gifted offensive players. In just nine games so far this season Zary has eight points, displaying a knack for finding his way onto the scoresheet. A 2020 first-round pick, Zary’s initial transition from WHL stardom to pro hockey was rocky, but after his 25-point AHL rookie season Zary scored 21 goals and 58 points there. He scored 10 points in just six AHL games so far this season, a performance that earned him his call-up to Calgary.
Some other injury updates from the Western Conference:
- Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez missed yesterday’s overtime victory over the Dallas Stars due to a lower-body injury. Martinez’ vacated spot in the lineup next to Alex Pietrangelo was filled by Nicolas Hague, while Ben Hutton re-entered the lineup to fill Hague’s old role on the team’s bottom pairing next to Zach Whitecloud. Martinez is among Vegas’ most important defensemen, averaging nearly 20 minutes per night and over two minutes per night on the penalty kill.
- Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told the media, including NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding, that forward Logan O’Connor has a lower-body injury and is out day-to-day. Additionally, forward Valeri Nichushkin left last night’s game to get stitches for his mouth but did end up returning to the contest. At the moment, O’Connor plays third-line minutes for the Avalanche on a line with Ross Colton and Miles Wood. Should he miss any time, physical spare forward Kurtis MacDermid could draw into the lineup, or they could place a player on injured reserve and recall a forward such as Ben Meyers. O’Connor, 27, has scored three goals and seven points in 17 games so far this season.
Snapshots: Panthers, Nichushkin, Canucks
While teams will be busy on July 1st trying to add free agents, some will also be trying to lock up their own players to early extensions. In the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that the Panthers will be one trying to do the latter when it comes to defensemen Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling, believing they’ll take a run at trying to lock both of them up early. Montour had a breakout campaign this past season, picking up 73 points in 80 games. His previous career-best in points came in 2021-22 when he had 37. As for Forsling, he also set new benchmarks offensively across the board, picking up 41 points in 82 games while logging over 23 minutes a night. The two players will make just under $6.2MM combined next season; it might cost more than twice that much to keep them around after that.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Colorado winger Valeri Nichushkin will return to the team next season, a team spokesman confirmed to Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette. The 28-year-old left the Avalanche during their first-round series against Colorado for what the team called personal reasons following an incident where a severely intoxicated woman was found in his hotel room. He did not return during the rest of the series. Nichushkin is not under police investigation for the incident. After the season, GM Chris MacFarland indicated that he hoped that Nichushkin would be “a very important part of our team in the future” and with seven years remaining on his contract, they’ll be expecting him to be a core piece moving forward after picking up 99 points in 115 games over the last two seasons.
- Following their buyout of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Thomas Drance of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that the move could impact Vancouver’s upcoming first-round pick. In order for the Canucks to get through the tough years of the buyout (2025-26 and 2026-27), they’re going to need some value contracts on the books. Vancouver has the 11th-overall pick in the draft later this month and if they’re able to get someone that projects to be NHL-ready within two seasons, that would help ease the burden of the higher buyout cost. It also might make them disinclined to consider trading down or out for win-now help that won’t be around (or as affordable) two years from now.
Bettman Presser Notes: World Cup, Senators, Relocation, Nichushkin, Front Office
Before the start of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights, Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, and Deputy Commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly, gave their annual version of hockey’s “State of the Union” address to the media. The two spoke at length about a plethora of topics, and one of the more intriguing tidbits was that the NHL is looking into bringing back the World Cup of Hockey (Tweet Link).
In 1996, what was formerly known as the Canada Cup, the World Cup of Hockey was born, and it took place at the then-new Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and also the then-new Bell Centre in Montreal. The United States was the eventual champion, beating Canada in three games.
The tournament took a short break, continuing again in 2004, where Canada became the eventual winner against Finland. The last time the tournament was held was back in 2016 when Canada beat the European team in two games.
In the 2016 rendition, the World Cup of Hockey featured new teams such as Europe and North America. The European team featured countries that were not represented by their own national teams, including players from countries such as Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, etc. The North American, which ended up being one of the most fun teams to watch during the tournament, featured players from Canada and the United States that were under the age of 23.
Other notes:
- As the Ottawa Senators look to find a new owner, Bettman states that the process could still take a couple more weeks (Tweet Link). The last time the Senators went through a sale was back in 2003 when the late Eugene Melnyk purchased the team for a reported sum of $92MM. Melnyk oversaw the Senators team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017. Having passed in the spring of 2022, the team residing in Canada’s capital should have a new owner by the end of the month.
- After the announcement that the city of Tempe would not be housing the Arizona Coyotes, rumors immediately sprung about a possible relocation. In the press conference, Bettman reported that Ryan Smith, the current owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has expressed interest in relocating the Coyotes to Salt Lake City (Tweet Link). Although this is considerable news, especially coming from the Commissioner, Bettman did express a strong desire for the Coyotes to remain in Arizona and says that the NHL is helping the franchise find locations in Phoenix.
- Early in the 2023 NHL Playoffs, it was reported that forward Valeri Nichushkin of the Colorado Avalanche would be sent home for the remainder of the playoffs. Asked about this during their press conference, especially in light of the police body came footage being released, Daly reports that Nichushkin is not under investigation, and is free to play during the 2023-24 NHL season (Tweet Link). Although it was never reported otherwise, it is positive news for Colorado, after recently receiving news that captain Gabriel Landeskog would miss the entirety of next season.
- As eliminated teams are looking to fill both General Manager and head coach vacancies, it appears that two names could be officially coming to the market. Bettman reports that longtime NHL head coach, Joel Quenneville, and former General Manager, Stan Bowman, have both requested interviews to be reinstated in the league (Tweet Link). Both have been prohibited from working in the NHL ever since the sexual assault exposure from former player, Kyle Beach, came out during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Central Division Notes: Scheifele, Nichushkin, Helm, Johnson
In Game Four between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets, star center Mark Scheifele left the game early with an upper-body injury. Already missing Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers, including Scheifele in that group moving forward might be the nail in the coffin for the Jets in their first-round matchup.
Thankfully for Jets fans, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet relays on a message from head coach Rick Bowness, showing optimism that Scheifele could return for Game Five. With the Golden Knights already leading the series three games to one, having Scheifele on the ice for Winnipeg would certainly increase their chances of extending the series.
In four games in this year’s playoffs, Scheifele scored once, adding a goal in the unfortunate Game Three loss in double overtime. Although not providing a career-best performance this regular season in terms of points, Scheifele did crack his career-high in goals this year, scoring 42 goals and 26 assists in 81 games played.
Other notes from the Central Division:
- Coming off of the recent suspension of defenseman Cale Makar, Ryan Boulding of the NHL also reports that Valeri Nichushkin will still not be an option for the Colorado Avalanche in Game Five. Fortunately for the Avalanche, they seemed to have been in this position all season long due to injuries, and their depth was able to carry them to a first-place finish in the Central Division. The terms of Nichushkin’s absence has been one of the more bewildering stories off the ice these playoffs, as he has been out of the lineup for personal reasons, leaving Seattle shortly before the Avalanche took on the Seattle Kraken for Game Three.
- In the same announcement, Boulding also reports that forward Darren Helm and Jack Johnson may be options for the Avalanche for Game Five. Helm, seemingly injured for the entire season, has been out of the lineup since Colorado’s loss in Game One. Johnson on the other hand, re-acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the trade deadline, has yet to suit up for the Avalanche in this series.
Snapshots: Penguins, Stauber, Avalanche, Duclair
If the Penguins are going to be buyers for next month’s trade deadline, there’s at least one key asset that they’re not willing to move. Speaking with reporters including Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, GM Ron Hextall stated that they won’t be willing to move their first-round pick. At this time, Hextall plans to try to add a piece if he can, stating that “If we can do something to make us better this year, I’m looking to do it”. However, with limited space to work with (they have just $1.35MM in LTIR space at the moment per CapFriendly), any move they’re looking to make at this point is probably going to be of the depth variety.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Blackhawks announced that they have recalled goaltender Jaxson Stauber from AHL Rockford. The 23-year-old was sent down over the All-Star break but didn’t see any game action with the IceHogs during that stretch. Stauber won his first two career NHL starts last month, allowing just four goals on 67 shots and has a 3.06 GAA and a .896 SV% in ten minor league contests.
- There’s some good news on the horizon for the Avalanche when it comes to the injury front. Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Valeri Nichushkin will return on Tuesday against Colorado. Byram has missed the last 38 games due to a lower-body injury but had been logging nearly 21 minutes a night in his first ten appearances where he picked up five points. Nichushkin, meanwhile, returns from his second ankle injury of the year. He has been quite productive when he has been in the lineup, collecting 18 points in 20 games. Meanwhile, it’s also possible that blueliner Josh Manson accompanies the team on the trip; he has been out for more than two months with a lower-body injury.
- The Panthers are hopeful that winger Anthony Duclair will be able to rejoin the team for practice this week, notes Katie Engelson of Bally Sports Florida (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has missed the entire season so far as he recovered from a torn Achilles. Last season, Duclair had a career year with 31 goals and 27 assists and Florida could really use him back as they look to get back into the playoff picture. With Patric Hornqvist (concussion) on LTIR, they’re not currently in a spot where they need to trade someone in order to free up the cap space to activate Duclair when he’s ready to return.
Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Avalanche, Carrier
Originally slated to be out for at least a month, St. Louis Blues star winger Vladimir Tarasenko could be back in the lineup sooner than expected. Lou Korac of NHL.com and Inside the Blues reports that Tarasenko was a full participant in Blues practice on Sunday morning, just two weeks after sustaining a hand injury on New Year’s Eve.
Now 31, Tarasenko is having another solid season after missing the majority of play between 2019 and 2021 with injuries. While he’s not on his point-per-game-plus pace from last season, he does have a respectable ten goals and 29 points in 34 games. The six-time 30-goal scorer could be important trade bait for the Blues in March if they continue to slip out of the playoff race.
- While injury news for the Colorado Avalanche has been rather bleak, there was a tidbit of good news today when head coach Jared Bednar told reporters that Valeri Nichushkin is “potentially” an option tomorrow when they host the Detroit Red Wings. He’s been limited to 15 games this season but has played extraordinarily well when healthy, recording seven goals and 16 points. The news wasn’t so positive for Darren Helm, however, who’s re-injured the lower-body ailment that caused him to miss the start of the season. The team isn’t positive that Helm will return to play in 2022-23.
- The Vegas Golden Knights will be without forward William Carrier tomorrow, as he has an upper-body injury that will keep him out against Dallas. Carrier seemed to sustain the injury late in yesterday’s tough loss against the Edmonton Oilers. He’s already set a career-high in goals, scoring 11 times in 43 games in largely a fourth-line role to provide important depth scoring.
Valeri Nichushkin Re-Injures Ankle, Out Indefinitely
Injuries have hit the Avalanche hard all season but they got some good news three weeks ago when Valeri Nichushkin was able to return to the lineup after undergoing ankle surgery following a six-week absence. However, his absence from yesterday’s loss to Arizona was noteworthy and head coach Jared Bednar confirmed to Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link) that the winger has re-injured his ankle. There is no timetable for his return.
The 27-year-old is in the first season of an eight-year, $49MM contract signed back in July to avoid free agency. He got off to a great start before originally being injured, notching a dozen points in his first seven games but his output had dipped since his return as Nichushkin had just four assists in the eight contests he played in this month. Even so, he still sits seventh in scoring for Colorado despite missing more than half the season due to injuries.
Nichushkin rejoins an injured group that includes (but isn’t limited to) center Nathan MacKinnon, winger Gabriel Landeskog, defensemen Josh Manson and Bowen Byram, and even goaltender Pavel Francouz. All told, the Avs have over $27MM in contracts for players that are currently unavailable due to injuries. Even with LTIR, Colorado has been icing lineups lately that have been below the salary cap floor and with most of their injured players still facing extended absences, that’s unlikely to change in the near future.
In spite of the injuries, Colorado is still hanging around the playoff mix as they’re tied for a Wild Card position and are only two points out of the final guaranteed spot in the Central Division. Unfortunately, they’re going to have to hang around the mix without another key winger in Nichushkin who is now facing another absence.