It's very possible that Colorado Avalanche star forward Valeri Nichushkin has already played his last game in the National Hockey League. The 29-year-old was placed in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in the middle of the Avs' second-round series against the Dallas Stars in the middle of May, and his future remains unknown.
The power forward is reportedly being targeted by SKA Saint Petersburg, one of the top teams in the KHL, according to Belarushockey.com.
“I talked to Nichushkin. We have a very good relationship, we talked to him in the spring. Will he end up in SKA? We'll see. Anything is possible,” SKA head coach Roman Rotenburg said earlier in August.
The Russian bench boss continued: “But today, as far as I understand from Nichushkin himself, he remains in the NHL. Colorado is counting on him, despite all his problems. And he himself wants to play there. He is the strongest player in the playoffs, the winner of the Stanley Cup. We all understand who Nichushkin is. I am sure that any NHL club will take Valery. He is a strong hockey player when playing in the crease. And that is where the goals come from, this is the key component.”
The Avalanche are currently unable to terminate Nichushkin's contract while he remains in stage three of the program, per Colorado Hockey Now's Evan Rawal, and the team also doesn't currently plan on trading him.
Nichushkin was suspended for six months without pay back in May, so a decision on his future likely won't come until November. But if the Avalanche decide the Russian is no longer part of their future plans, a defection to Russia's elite league might make sense.
Russian journalist Daria Tuboltseva speculated on Telegram recently that the team is expecting Nichushkin to join SKA in the winter.
“You will laugh, of course, but a couple of weeks ago I heard a version that SKA is expecting Nichushkin by December. The hockey player’s disqualification should just end, after which Colorado will terminate his contract [I can’t imagine under what conditions and what the official reason will be], and he will be able to return to Russia.”
There are obviously a ton of moving pieces, as these are just rumors and Nichushkin could be in the program for longer than just six months. He is also still owed over $35 million from the Avalanche over the next six years.
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