The Colorado Avalanche have made a massive decision on Valeri Nichushkin as he continues to enjoy a career year.

Nichushkin missed Saturday's game due to an illness. As first reported by Avs insider Adrian Dater, the team is now putting the Russian back in the NHL's Player Assistance Program after his incident last April in a Seattle hotel during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“This is not official yet, but I'm hearing Valeri Nichushkin is back in the NHL player assistance program, out indefinitely.”

The move was then officially announced later on Monday.

This is a crushing blow for Nichushkin and the Avalanche. They're having a wonderful season, sitting in second place in the Central Division with a 28-12-3 record. Their offense is firing on all cylinders and Nichushkin is a big part of it.

In 40 games, he's scored 22 goals and supplied 20 assists, proving to be a crucial player for Jared Bednar's group. He's only 10 points off his career-best, registering 52 points in 62 contests during Colorado's Cup run in 2021-22. When it comes to the whole saga last year in Seattle, it was messy. A woman was found highly intoxicated in his motel room and had to be taken to hospital by an ambulance. In bodycam footage that was found, she called Nichuskin a “liar” and “very bad”. He didn't play past Game 3 of that series against the Kraken.

It's unknown why he may be back in the Player Assistance Program, but if it is the case, more details will be revealed shortly—tough news for both Nichushkin and the Avalanche.