Before we dive into this, it's important to remember that nothing has been made official regarding Valeri Nichushkin's absence from the Avalanche and we hope to see him back on the ice as soon as he's able to.
Prior to Game 3 against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin left the team for personal reasons and both the team or his agent will comment any further, which is totally understandable.
Nichushkin, 28, is in his fourth year with the Avalanche after signing with them in August 2019. In 53 games, the Chelyabinsk (Russia) native was nearly a point-per-game player, putting up 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists), two penalty minutes and was a plus-15.
After helping the Avalanche capture their third Stanley Cup in franchise history last year, the team locked him up to a long-term contract that will keep him in the Mile High City until after the 2029-30 season.
