Every offseason produces at least one difficult decision, and this one might define the Colorado Avalanche's pursuit of another Stanley Cup.
Valeri Nichushkin is simultaneously one of the team's biggest strengths and one of its biggest uncertainties.
When he's healthy and on the ice, few power forwards in the NHL can match the combination of size, speed and relentless puck pursuit that has made him such an integral part of Colorado's identity. But injuries and off-ice setbacks have repeatedly interrupted what could have been one of the league's most dominant careers, leaving the Avalanche to answer a question that doesn't have an easy solution.
Do you move one of the best playoff performers in franchise history while he still carries significant value? Or do you trust that a healthy offseason finally allows him to become the player everyone inside the organization knows he can be?
There's a compelling case for both.
When Nichushkin is healthy, he is one of the most efficient and impactful skaters on Colorado's roster. He can score in bunches, and when he finds his rhythm, he has a tendency to take over games.
Nichushkin finished the season with 17 goals and 32 assists for 49 points in 72 games. He scored in just 12 of those contests, but four of them were multi-goal performances, including a hat trick on New Year's Eve in a 6-1 rout of the St. Louis Blues — the same night Nathan MacKinnon scored his 400th career NHL goal.
Beyond the production, Nichushkin does countless things that don't always show up on the scoresheet. He has underrated puck skills that allow him to carry the puck into the offensive zone with possession, his speed makes him one of Colorado's best forecheckers, and his combination of size and hockey IQ helps him win battles along the boards and extend offensive-zone time.
He's exactly the type of power forward every contender wants.
The problem is that he isn't always available.
In fact, Nichushkin shares an unfortunate distinction with Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux: he has never played a full 82-game season. The closest he came was during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 campaigns with the Dallas Stars. Throughout his career, injuries have consistently interrupted his seasons, and in recent years, so have off-ice issues.
On April 22, 2023, Avalanche staff found a heavily intoxicated woman in Nichushkin's room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle before Game 3 of Colorado's first-round playoff series against the Kraken. The team doctor called emergency services, the woman was transported to a hospital, and Nichushkin abruptly left the team.
No criminal charges were filed against Nichushkin, but he returned to Denver and did not play again as Colorado's Stanley Cup title defense ended in seven games. Nichushkin later revealed he would have returned had the Avalanche advanced to the second round.
Less than a year later, in January 2024, Nichushkin entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and the Avalanche announced he would be away from the team indefinitely.
The program consists of four stages. Stage 1 involves an initial in-patient treatment program with no disciplinary penalty. A violation of the Stage 1 treatment plan moves a player into Stage 2, where he can be suspended without pay during active treatment before becoming eligible for reinstatement.
Stage 3, which follows a violation of the Stage 2 treatment plan, carries a suspension without pay for at least six months before reinstatement can be considered. Stage 4, following a violation of the Stage 3 treatment plan, results in a suspension of at least one year, with no guarantee of reinstatement.
Nichushkin completed treatment in late February 2024 and entered follow-up care under the Stage 2 treatment plan. He returned to the Avalanche on March 8 and still managed to finish the regular season with 28 goals.
Then came another setback.
After scoring nine goals in eight playoff games during Colorado's first-round series victory over the Winnipeg Jets, Nichushkin failed a drug test, was suspended for six months without pay, and entered Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program.
Since returning, however, there have been no public issues. Head coach Jared Bednar repeatedly said throughout this past season that Nichushkin was in a great place mentally and had become an important presence inside the locker room.
That part of the story is often overlooked.
Nichushkin isn't someone who seeks the spotlight. If Nathan MacKinnon is quiet around the media, Nichushkin is even more reserved. Yet Bednar has spoken about how younger players gravitate toward him because he's approachable and easy to relate to. It's also no secret that he and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood have developed a close friendship.
His statistical decline this season wasn't entirely his fault.
After Colorado's 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 11, Nichushkin had five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 17 games. In that game, though, he blocked a shot and suffered a lower-body injury that sidelined him for nearly a month.
Only a month after returning, Nichushkin was involved in a car accident on his way to the rink and missed a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. He later dealt with an upper-body injury in early April before suffering another lower-body injury in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final. He missed the final 22 minutes of that game and Game 4 as Colorado was swept by the Vegas Golden Knights.
There may not have been a player more ready for the offseason than Nichushkin.
A healthy summer devoted entirely to recovery and conditioning could set him up for another productive campaign.
People also tend to forget what he has already sacrificed for the organization. Nichushkin has fought for this team, played through pain for this team and helped deliver a Stanley Cup.
During the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, he played Game 6 with a broken foot and still produced four goals and two assists in the series. Those four goals tied a franchise record shared by Joe Sakic and Alex Tanguay for the most in a Stanley Cup Final.
That's the version of Valeri Nichushkin the Avalanche are betting still exists.
Colorado could certainly explore moving his $6.125 million cap hit after creating additional flexibility with the Ross Colton trade. A left-shot defenseman or a younger, more physical forward could make sense on paper.
But there's another way to view it.
Nichushkin is 31 years old, not 36. His recent postseason numbers — five goals over his last two playoff appearances — don't erase the 19 goals he scored in the previous three postseasons, nor do they erase the reality that, when healthy, he remains one of the NHL's most dominant playoff wingers.
That's why the smarter approach may simply be patience.
Give Nichushkin a healthy offseason. See what he looks like over the first half of next season. If he returns to the player Colorado knows he can be, the Avalanche keep one of the league's most unique forwards. If not, his combination of production and contract certainty still makes him a valuable trade asset at the deadline.
If the Avalanche can find a way to retain Jack Drury and Brett Kulak while working within the nearly $7 million they have left in cap space, even better. The downside, however, is that it could leave Brent Burns as the odd man out.
But for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, moving on from Valeri Nichushkin now might be the bigger gamble.
