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Valeri Nichushkin

Snapshots: Johnson, Nichushkin, Schmidt, Yakupov

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Lightning center Tyler Johnson’s full no-trade clause kicks in at the beginning of free agency this summer, notes Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times.  Tampa Bay does not have a lot of payroll flexibility heading into next season and has a possible long-term extension for winger Nikita Kucherov on the horizon so they may want to free up some funds at some point this offseason.  If that’s the case, they may look to do something sooner than later and with Johnson locked up through 2023-24 at a $5MM AAV, he’s someone that they will have to consider moving by the end of next month.  There should be no shortage of suitors considering he’s coming off a strong year with 50 points and plays a premium position that’s in high demand.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • After spending the past two years with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, the Stars could have winger Valeri Nichushkin back for 2018-19. Mark Gandler, Nichushkin’s agent, told Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required) that there is mutual interest in getting a deal done and that he expects his client to be suiting up in Dallas in October.  The 23-year-old put up 16 goals and 11 assists while averaging 16:28 of ice time per night and would likely slot in as a middle-six forward with the Stars.
  • The Capitals explored trying to reacquire defenseman Nate Schmidt from the Golden Knights following the Expansion Draft, reports Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter links). However, Vegas GM George McPhee placed a high price tag for them to do so and they were certainly right to do so; the 26-year-old led the team in ice time while collecting a career-high 36 points.
  • In advance of his next trip through free agency, Avalanche winger Nail Yakupov has parted ways with agent Igor Larionov, reports Igor Eronko of Sport-Express (Twitter link). While the 24-year-old came to Colorado as an unrestricted free agent, the team can still control his rights with a qualifying offer just shy of $920K next month although he will have arbitration eligibility.  Yakupov suited up in 58 games with the Avs this past season, recording nine goals and seven assists.

Dallas Notes: Seguin, Nichushkin, Heiskanen, Spezza, Lehtonen

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With the Dallas Stars season coming to an end today, the Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) spoke with Dallas general manager Jim Nill in a Q&A about the team’s disappointing season which resulted in a second-straight season in the lottery (three out of five, if anyone is asking), despite the team’s offseason efforts to compete for a Stanley Cup immediately.

Nill says while the team is still trying to figure out what went wrong, the team’s top priority is to focus on re-signing center Tyler Seguin, who is coming off a career-high 40 goals this season. He has one year remaining at just $5.75MM and can sign an extension on July 1. The question no one is certain of is what does Seguin want? Regardless, the team intends to stick with Seguin whether or not he signs an extension on July 1st.

“I know some people are worried, but he’s got a year left and I anticipate he’s going to come in and play well and get going,” Nill said. “I hope to have him signed before that year starts, but if it doesn’t we’ll go through that process. There are some things that are an advantage, we can offer eight years compared to seven, so there are a lot of factors that come into play.”

  • In the same mailbag, Nill said that he believes that 2013 first-rounder Valeri Nichushkin will be back in Dallas next season. The former 10th-overall pick played three seasons in Dallas, but struggled at times and opted to return to CSKA Moscow of the KHL for the past two years. With two more years of experience, the 23-year-old could make big contributions to the team next year if they can bring him back, according to Nill.
  • Nill also said, in Shapiro’s column, that he believes that 2017 first-round pick Miro Heiskanen looks ready to contribute to the team and is likely to come over next year. “I watched him closely in the Olympics, we’ve had scouts over there watching him,” Nill said. “He’s right there. He’s ready to come over. There will be a little transition time, living in a different country and stuff, but he’s very close.” The fourth-overall pick could change the state of their defense quickly if he’s as good as advertised. The 18-year-old has put up improved numbers in his second year playing in Finland’s top league, as he 11 goals and 12 assists in 30 games this year.
  • Mike Heika of SportsDay writes due to the contracts they have acquired over the past year, the team is all in on trying to win a Stanley Cup soon and will be forced to reload as opposed to rebuild their team. The scribe believes that the Stars should look to trade veteran forward Jason Spezza, who will have one more year at $7.5MM and retain half his salary. Spezza struggled this year under head coach Ken Hitchcock, scoring just eight goals this year, his lowest number since his rookie season. Heika believes that with another coach on another team, Spezza could still be a productive second or third-line center and at $3.75MM, there could be a lot of takers.
  • Heika, in the same column, writes that Stars’ fans have likely seen the last of backup goaltender Kari Lehtonen. The scribe believes that with starter Ben Bishop always dealing with minor injury issues, the team needs a backup who is capable of controlling a game. Lehtonen, who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, has not been that guy. He put up decent numbers this year with a 2.58 GAA and a .911 save percentage, but Heika believes the team needs a young goalie with more potential.

Andreas Athanasiou Heading To Switzerland

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Detroit Red Wings restricted free agent forward Andreas Athanasiou remains unsigned… for now. The latest news on the league’s last remaining RFA comes from TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who shares that Athanasiou is on his way to Switzerland to skate with HC Lugano of the NLA. McKenzie was quick to add that Athanasiou has not signed Lugano and is still evaluating his options, but his commitment to going overseas for the time being raises more doubts that he will suit up in the NHL this season.

A recent poll revealed that most fans felt Athanasiou and former holdout Josh Anderson would each re-sign with their respective teams. The second most popular answer was that the pair would both play overseas. Anderson has done his part to prove true the majority, re-upping with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Athanasiou has not made any similar progress with Detroit and seems more likely to join in the dissenting opinion. Interestingly, it was Anderson who had been connected to the NLA this off-season, with Athanasiou reportedly fielding offers from the KHL. Athanasiou may still end up in Russia, but with an influx of talent heading to the NLA in recent years and the the past success of Lugano, who has not missed the playoffs in six years, the team is far from a poor fit. Athanasiou would be skating alongside former Red Wing Damien Brunner, as well as NHL veterans Maxim Lapierre and Bobby Sanguinetti should he sign with Lugano and the talented group could very well make a title run in 2017-18.

Still, the best thing for Athanasiou and for hockey is for the skilled 23-year-old to stay in North America. In just his second NHL season, the young center scored 18 goals and defied expectations for a Detroit team with few bright spots. The Red Wings may not want to overpay – in salary or term – for Athanasiou, who did have an unsustainable 15% shooting percentage in 2016-17 and is only in the early stages of developing a defensive game, but the best decision is always to work things out. Just ask the Dallas Stars, who missed the playoffs last season and had to go on a spending spree this summer in hopes of righting the ship. They would love to have Valeri Nichushkin back, the talented young winger who left the team in the summer of 2016 to head to the KHL, where he remains, after failing to come to terms in restricted free agency. Maybe the Red Wings would rather trade Athanasiou or maybe they’ll realize their mistake and work out a contract. Either way, there seems to be little upside to simply losing the scoring youth for this season (or longer). Athanasiou skating with Lugano may just be the straw that finally breaks Ken Holland’s back.

 

Valeri Nichushkin Will Return To NHL In 2018-19

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Though it’s been expected for some time, due to the year remaining on his contract in the KHL, the Dallas Stars have announced that Valeri Nichushkin will not return to the NHL until the 2018-19 season. Instead, he’ll play his final year for CSKA Moscow and hope for even better results.

Nichushkin, 22, signed in the KHL last fall after a falling out with then head coach Lindy Ruff but immediately hinted that he hoped to return to the Stars one day. Now, with Ruff gone and Ken Hitchcock in place the team hopes to bring him back in and nurture the immense talent he brings to the table. Selected 10th-overall in 2013, Nichushkin brings size, speed and a nose for the net but hasn’t been able to put it all together just yet. In 34 games with CSKA last season, the 6’3″ winger 24 points. Showing flashes of brilliance at times, he needs to bring more consistency to his game if he’s to fit into the rigid Hitchcock system and fulfill his potential in the NHL.

A return to the league this year would have required a buyout of his contract, but instead he’ll take the opportunity to suit up with one of the best teams in the Russian league. It will be interesting to see how he’s deployed, but North American onlookers would certainly hope he and Kirill Kaprizov could be put together to form an immensely talented duo. The pair would bring incredible youth and skill to the team, and fans in Dallas and Minnesota would be sure to get some interesting highlights to watch.

Valeri Nichushkin Hopes To Return To Stars In 2018-19

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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.

 

Return To NHL For Valeri Nichushkin Still Up In The Air

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Despite having a year left on his contract with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, Mike Morreale of NHL.com relays from Joe McDonnell, the Stars director of amateur scouting that it is still “50/50” if Valeri Nichushkin returns to the NHL for next season. Any return would need a buyout or mutual termination of the final year of his contract in Russia, because of the unwritten agreement between the two leagues to respect each other’s contracts.

Nichuchkin would be a big bonus to the Stars if he found a way to return, as they try to bounce back from a disappointing season and compete again. The 22-year old winger put up 24 points in 36 games in the KHL this season and is starting to really take advantage of his huge 6’4″ frame. After selecting him 10th overall in the 2013 entry draft, Nichuchkin left for Russia last summer after perceived tension with head coach Lindy Ruff. Ruff is gone, Ken Hitchcock is the bench boss now, and the Stars have room up front to hand out some important minutes.

In the upcoming expansion draft, it is almost a given that the Stars will decide to protect the young Russian whether he has plans on returning now or in a year’s time. Meanwhile, CSKA will be trying as hard as they can to extend him and keep him in the KHL long-term. Nichushkin is a restricted free agent in the NHL, and should he come back would need a new contract with Dallas. Even if he doesn’t return this summer, you can bet he’ll be a topic of conversation if the Stars are headed for the playoffs next spring, just as Vladimir Sobotka was this year.

Stars Notes: Nichushkin, Expansion, Honka

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When Valeri Nichushkin left for the KHL last summer after having trouble with Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff, the team lost one of its best young assets to a rival league. The former 10th-overall draft pick had put up 34 points in his rookie season, then missed most of the next year after hip surgery but came back with another solid 29 point season as a 20-year old last year. He looked like a star (pun intended) in the making in Dallas, ready to break out over the next few seasons.

Well, breakout he did, just on the wrong continent. With 24 points in 36 games, Nichushkin was outstanding for CSKA Moscow when he was healthy. He is under contract for one more season with the Russian team, but Jim Nill was on the radio today saying (via Mark Stepneski of NHL.com) that he would like to bring him back to North America eventually. The now 22-year old would be a nice addition if they could get him under contract, as they’re likely losing Ales Hemsky, Patrick Sharp and Jiri Hudler this year—not to mention Patrick Eaves and Lauri Korpikoski, who they dealt at the deadline.

  • According to Stepneski, Nill also said that he likely will protect Nichushkin in the upcoming expansion draft, something that would complicate things quite a bit. Protecting Nichushkin would leave one of Antoine Roussel, Brett Ritchie, Radek Faksa or Cody Eakin exposed, none of whom the Stars could afford losing for nothing. While leaving Nichushkin exposed isn’t perfect, it would be hard to see Vegas taking a swing at him not knowing for sure if he’d ever come back to the NHL. Perhaps the Stars will work out a deal with the Golden Knights on who to take, as they currently look like they’ll lose an effective player in the draft.
  • Julius Honka will be back up with the NHL team at some point, to play another 8-10 games with the big club before the end of the season. The top prospect played 10 games earlier in the season for the team, and has thrived at the AHL level for three straight years. There will be no playoff run for the Texas Stars of the AHL this season, as they currently sit in seventh place in their division with a 27-29-4 record.

Quotable: Stars GM On Eight Defensemen, Injuries, Nichushkin, Goalies

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Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill sat down for an interview with Mike Heika of the Dallas News over the weekend.  The full interview is certainly worth a read but here are some of the highlights.

On whether there are any challenges associated with carrying eight defensemen instead of the standard seven:

“I don’t think so. I think you look at the schedule and it’s going to be a grind, so I really feel we will need that depth. You look at last season, and we didn’t need that depth until the end of the season, but if we didn’t have that depth, we would have been in trouble. So it worked out for us. I think this year, somebody steps in and somebody steps out, and we’re seeing growth in those players. Jamie Oleksiak, I think we’re seeing growth in him. Esa Lindell, we’re seeing growth in him. That’s what we want.”

Jamie Oleksiak’s situation has been well documented as he has effectively been the eighth blueliner dating back to last season.  He has played just 24 of a possible 98 regular season games since 2015-16, hardly an ideal scenario for a 23 year old former first round pick.

Regarding the decision to not utilize potential LTIR on right winger Ales Hemsky ($4MM cap hit) and Mattias Janmark ($800K cap hit), both of whom are out for at least several more months:

“It’s a complicated process, and that’s why we haven’t done it yet. But if we had to do that, we could and we could allow ourselves more spending space. To simplify it, I can just say we don’t anticipate any problems with the cap. We should be fine.”

The Stars currently have over $1.5MM in salary cap space according to Cap Friendly despite effectively carrying a 28-man roster due to all of the injuries they’re currently dealing with.  As some players return to the lineup, that number should only increase, suggesting that they’ll be in good shape moving forward without needing to dip into LTIR.

On the decision to let Valeri Nichushkin go back to the KHL – given the injury woes the team has up front, does Nill believe he should have been more flexible in negotiations with the former first rounder?

“No, not at all. We’re comfortable with the offer we gave and we’re comfortable with the process. Every contract you sign can affect another contract, especially with younger players. We made a decision, and he made a decision, and that’s just negotiations. I think in the end, it could be good for him to go back there and maybe mature, and then maybe when he has the opportunity, he will better understand what he has here and want to come back.”

Regarding one contract possibly affecting another, Nill later added that the team is trying to follow a certain structure when it comes to restricted free agents and that consistency in that process is important.  In recent years, the Stars have been pushing for shorter-term bridge deals with restricted free agents coming off their entry-level deals even though that goes against the current league-wide trend.

On the current struggles of goaltenders Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen:

“The numbers aren’t good, but at the same time I get back to the injuries and the team that’s in front of them. It’s a challenge for both of them, and I think there have been times when they have really stepped up. I think they both had great training camps, and they both have stepped up a times. We just need to strive to improve every game, but that’s the same for the whole team.”

The Stars currently have a team goals against average of 3.44, ranking 26th in the league and a team save percentage of .890, good for 27th.  Those are hardly ideal numbers for a team that is spending more money on their goaltenders (a combined $10.4MM) than any other team in the NHL.  In a follow-up question though, Nill noted that he isn’t worried about looking for an upgrade right now.

Stars RFA Nichushkin Signs In Russia

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Sept. 20: CSKA Moscow has officially announced the signing (link in Russian).  The Stars will retain his NHL rights.

Sept. 19: According to R-Sport correspondent Simon Galkevich, Dallas Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin is about to sign a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow of the KHL (link in Russian).

Galkevich tweeted CSKA acquired Nichushkin’s KHL rights from Dinamo for free. Igor Eronko, a writer for the Russian website Sport-Express, cited a source saying Nichushkin hopes to return to Dallas “someday”, but doesn’t want to play for Stars coach Lindy Ruff. Ruff’s contract expires in two years, coinciding with the end of Nichushkin’s KHL contract.

Back in March, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reported Nichushkin was frustrated with Ruff, quoting a Sport-Express article where Nichushkin compared Ruff’s lack of trust in him to “beating [my] forehead against the wall”.

Stars GM Jim Nill had previously stated that he didn’t expect Nichushkin to consider the KHL. The Stars drafted Nichushkin 10th overall back in the 2013 Entry Draft. He’s scored 23 goals and 64 points in 166 games since then, missing all but eight games of his sophomore season with a hip issue.

Nichushkin is one of several RFAs currently without an NHL contract, as discussed during PHR’s series on remaining RFAs.

Snapshots: Nichushkin, Strome, Sabres

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News and notes around the NHL this evening:

  • Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill said that losing Valeri Nichushkin to the KHL is “not the end of the world.” The unsigned RFA is rumored to be close to signing a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow instead of remaining with the Dallas Stars. Nill reasons that Nichushkin is still young and will continue to develop in the KHL—and return to the organization a better player. Nishushkin scored 9G and 20A in 79 games for the Stars, and was considered a promising prospect on the backend.
  • Unsigned RFA Ryan Strome approaches the New York Islanders self-imposed deadline to sign a contract before the season starts. As Larry Brooks reports, the Isles have maintained the previous ownership’s policy of not negotiating during training camp. The Canadian forward scored 8G and 20A in 71 games for the Isles last season, and an additional 1G and 3A in 8 playoff games. The Isles have just over $3.6MM in cap space—more than enough to sign a player of Strome’s calibre to a short-term bridge deal.
  • The Buffalo Sabres officially announced that they have changed their arena name from the First Niagara Center to the KeyBank Center. KeyBank’s parent company KeyCorp recently bought First Niagara, and with it came the arena’s naming rights. Both are mid-size banks with a concentrated upstate New York presence. The name change will take effect this season. The name change is also the team’s fourth in twenty years, after being called the Marine Midland Arena, HSBC Arena, and most recently the First Niagara Center.

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