For the past few seasons, the Colorado Avalanche have had one of the more imposing top lines in the NHL. Powerhouse Nathan MacKinnon leads the way, with Mikko Rantanen not far behind. However, it’s one of the team’s second-line forwards who will be key to helping the team challenge for the Stanley Cup.
Valeri Nichushkin has come into his own since he joined the team in 2019. With captain Gabriel Landeskog set to miss the entire season, and uncertainty around some new faces in the lineup, it’s imperative for Nichushkin to continue his upward trend. The good news is that he’s proven he can handle the pressure – if he can stay healthy.
Nichushkin’s Rise in Colorado
There was a point not long ago when Nichushkin’s NHL career was in jeopardy. After four rocky seasons with the Dallas Stars to start his career, he spent a couple of seasons in the KHL before getting another chance with the Avalanche. After a decent first couple of seasons in Denver, he exploded with a 25-goal campaign in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2022.
He was on pace for another career year in 2022-23, but injuries limited him to 53 games. Nichushkin still scored an impressive 17 goals and 47 points – just five points shy of his career-best 52 from 2021-22. But the evidence of Nichushkin’s importance to the team comes from the games he missed. With the 6-foot-4, 210-pound winger in the lineup, Colorado was a blistering 39-8-6. Without him, they were a middling 12-16-1.
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Those stats don’t tell the whole story. The Avalanche generated 3.52 goals per game when Nichushkin played, and averaged just 3.00 goals per game in the 29 contests without him. That half-goal per game might not seem like much until you look at the losses. In the 17 games the Avs lost when Nichushkin was on the shelf, Colorado came up just one-goal short eight times and lost three more by two goals thanks to an empty-netter.
Nichushkin Must Stay in the Lineup
The problem is that Nichushkin’s track record shows it’s almost inevitable that he will miss time. He has not played more than 65 games in any of his four seasons in Colorado. Staying healthy would take a lot of strain off the team’s top line and the power play to put up points. He also has to be available in the postseason – his absence from the 2023 Playoffs really hurt the team.
Of course, there was the bizarre incident during the Avalanche’s first-round series against the Seattle Kraken when he got wrapped up in a strange 911 call from a Seattle hotel just hours before Game 3. He didn’t play again in the postseason and the Avs lost to the Kraken in seven games, dropping three of the last four contests – all by a single goal.
Following an investigation by the NHL, Nichushkin has been cleared to play this season and is expected to be at training camp, but the incident was concerning and most definitely a distraction. Still, there are plenty of pieces still in place for Colorado to make another run, and Nichushkin is definitely one of them. His absence leaves a massive hole in their depth, so the biggest key for Nichushkin in 2023-24 is to remain available.
Avalanche Roster Turnover
There are some new faces on the Avalanche, and that means it will take some time to build chemistry. The Avs know what they’ll be getting from MacKinnon and Rantanen, but Colorado will likely be banking on Nichushkin to carry some of the load early on while players get used to each other. He could have the biggest impact on newly-acquired Ryan Johansen, who will likely be centering the second line.
The Avalanche also brought in Jonathan Drouin on a one-year deal, and he’s likely penciled in to take the left-wing spot on the top line during Landeskog’s absence. While MacKinnon and Rantanen clearly have chemistry, it could take a bit of time for them to get used to playing with a new running mate. That puts even more pressure on the second line to perform, meaning Nichushkin will have to be at the top of this game from the start.
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The good news is that he was ready to roll with a hot start last season, scoring seven goals and 12 points in the team’s first seven games. However, all of the early injuries last year had the Avalanche fighting for a playoff spot in January. Colorado still won their division thanks to a stellar run to close the season, but they don’t want to rely on making that kind of finish again. That means more stability out of the gate, and Nichushkin’s performance will be central to that in 2023-24.