The Columbus Blue Jackets are on the board with their first trade of the summer, acquiring veteran winger Valeri Nichushkin from the Colorado Avalanche for three draft picks a day before the 2026 NHL Draft.
Nichushkin, 31, was acquired for a 2026 second-round pick (43rd overall) plus the Blue Jackets' 2027 third-round pick and 2028 fifth-round pick. The Russian winger, who is 6 feet 4 and 210 pounds, has experience playing a top-six role and helped the Avalanche win the 2022 Stanley Cup.
He has also totaled 357 points in 627 career games with 154 goals and 203 assists for the Avalanche (2019-26) and Dallas Stars (2013-19). Nichushkin has also scored 41 career power-play goals, 24 game-winning goals and six short-handed goals while averaging 16:25 in ice time.
This past season, he finished with 17 goals, 32 assists and 49 points in 72 games with a +9 plus/minus rating in 17:44 of ice time per game.
"Valeri is a big, strong forward who skates exceptionally well, can score goals, win puck battles and doesn’t shy away from playing in the hard areas,” Blue Jackets president/general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “He is an accomplished two-way player who competes at a high level and we are very excited to welcome him to the Blue Jackets family."
Nichushkin didn't cost Waddell a first-round pick, so he could still package the 14th overall pick in this year's draft to add another experienced forward while preparing to lose captain Boone Jenner and left wing Mason Marchment as free agents.
The risk with the Nichushkin is off the ice, where personal issues have landed him in the NHL Players' Association Player Assistance Program twice, including the second stint reaching Stage 3 on May 13, 2024 to prompt a minimum six-month suspension without pay for violating terms of his treatment plan established in Stage 2 earlier the same season.
The Stage 3 suspension was revealed by the NHL and NHLPA prior to Game 4 of the Avalanche's second-round series, which they trailed 2-1 against the Stars. Neither the league nor NHLPA revealed the cause for the suspension, but it triggered the third of only four stages to the jointly run program.
Should Nichushkin violate the terms of his Stage 3 treatment plan, Stage 4 includes a mandatory one-year suspension without pay and does not include a guarantee of reinstatement to play. While suspended, players in the NHL/NHLPA program still count toward the NHL's salary-cap system unless they're placed on long-term injured reserve for a separate reason.
Nichushkin was also involved with an off-ice issue prior to Game 3 of the Avalanche's 2023 playoff series against the Seattle Kraken. He missed the final five games for what the team described as "personal reasons," but a report by The Athletic cited a Seattle police report that said an Avalanche team physician discovered a highly intoxicated woman in Nichushkin's hotel room.
It was determined the woman was too intoxicated to leave the hotel via taxi or ride-share service, so she was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Nichushkin's agent, Mark Gandler, was quoted in the article and denied his client's involvement, but Nichushkin was the only Avalanche player listed by name in the police report.
That incident didn't lead to Nichushkin re-entering the NHL/NHLPA program, but he did miss the remainder of that series. In the past two years, Nichushkin hasn't triggered Stage 4 of the treatment program and has maintained a significant role in Colorado's lineup.
He has four years left on a contract with a $6.125 million cap charge and 12-team, no-trade clause. Should he steer clear of trouble and arrive in Columbus motivated, Nichushkin could provide a boost to the Blue Jackets' possession metrics, power play and scoring.
patch Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets land Valeri Nichushkin from Colorado Avalanche
Kurt Helin