Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
For the second year in a row, the Colorado Avalanche are in danger of suffering an early exit in the playoffs. And they’re without Valeri Nichushkin.
A year ago, the Russian winger left the team hours before Game 3 in the first round due to “personal reasons” after police were called to his hotel room and found a woman heavily intoxicated. On Monday, hours before Game 4 against the Dallas Stars, Nichushkin was placed in Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program of the NHLPA and NHL.
Under the terms of the joint program, Nichushkin will be suspended without pay for a minimum of six months and then will be eligible to apply for reinstatement.
Related: Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin Placed in Stage 3 of NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program
That left the Avalanche without a top-line forward leading the playoffs with nine goals in eight games. As a result, the Avalanche lost 5-1 in Game 4 and are trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
“Val is obviously struggling with something,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters. “I have two thoughts. Yeah, it (stinks) for our team. It hurts our team, there’s no question. He’s a great player.
“I’ve gotten to know Val as a person and I’ve gotten to know him as one of our teammates, and I want what’s best for him. I want him to be happy, and I want him to be content in his life, whether that is with our team or not with our team. I want the best for him and his family. I think all of our guys are the same. We hope that he can find some peace and get help.
“That’s the other side of it. Hockey is not life and death, even though we treat it like it is. Val is a big priority, and our team is another one. Now they are separated. They’re not together.”
Indeed, Nichushkin and the Avalanche are not together. They might not be ever again.
"We hope that he can find some peace and get help."
Coach Jared Bednar speaks on the Valeri Nichushkin situation. pic.twitter.com/SVezYNHQTF
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 14, 2024
While Nichushkin has six more years remaining on an eight-year contract that carries a $6.125-million cap hit, the odds of him playing out the remainder of that deal in Colorado doesn’t look great.
This is not how you want to start the first two years of a contract — by twice going missing at the most important part of the season.
Obviously, the Avalanche want what is best for Nichushkin. We all do. But as Bednar said, the Avalanche also want what is best for a team that after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022 was considered a championship contender once again this year.
And right now, Nichushkin is not something that the team needs. Not if it intends on winning another championship.
Nichushkin was a huge part of Colorado’s championship run in 2022, having scored nine goals and 15 points in 20 games. It was that performance that led the Avalanche to extend Nichushkin for another eight years — a decision that forced Nazem Kadri out the door as a free agent.
In hindsight, it was a costly error.
A year ago, Nichushkin was absent as the team lost in the first round to the Seattle Kraken. Now, his absence could cement a second-round exit.
Imagine what might have been had the team chosen to extend Kadri and let Nichushkin walk.
So what do the Avalanche do now? Well, they can try and trade Nichushkin, but good luck getting another team to take a chance on a player who won’t be able to apply for reinstatement until sometime in November. They can try and buy him out of the remainder of his contract, but that will be even more costly than keeping him around.
Andrew Cogliano on Nichushkin: “At this point, it is what it is… We’re focusing on our job. We’re in the second round of the playoffs here. This is our job and we're giving it all we got. We focus on the guys in the room.” pic.twitter.com/XhUyUZ6mO3
— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) May 14, 2024
Some have suggested the team terminate his contract in the same way that Los Angeles did with Mike Richards when he violated “a material breach of his Standard Player’s Contract” after Richards was arrested for possession of oxycodone, a controlled substance, without a prescription. But, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Nichushkin’s suspension may not be grounds for a similar termination.
That puts the Avalanche in a tricky position. While they are a better team with Nichushkin than without him, they are now in a position where they cannot trust him to be in the lineup when they need him the most.
If that is the case, then it looks like we may have seen the last of Nichushkin in Colorado.
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- Opinion: What Comes Next for the Avalanche and Valeri Nichushkin?
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