Bad News for the Colorado Avalanche Confirmed Involving Controversial Star Winger
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar gave us an update on Valeri Nichushkin's status ahead of the NHL's return to action.
The Colorado Avalanche have been decimated by injuries in recent seasons, with this year being particularly bad.
The 2022 Stanley Cup Champions have been without their captain Gabriel Landeskog for each of the last two seasons, and this year another key forward has been missing.
That would be Russian winger Valeri Nichushkin, who missed the beginning of the season with a suspension do to his violation of the NHL player's assistance program.
Since returning from that suspension, he has been rather good for the team, putting up 11 goals and 17 points in 21 games.
Unfortunately though, he has not played since New Year's eve. Not because he is suspended again, but this time because of an injury.
This morning, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar revealed that Nichushkin, alongside defenseman Josh Manson, will not be travelling with the team for their road trip that starts with a back-to-back this weekend.
This raises questions as to how long he will be out of the lineup as this particular injury was not expected to keep him out for this long.
However, he has been practicing with the team in a full-contact jersey, so it would seem that he is getting closer.
Nichushkin's career got off to a rough start in Dallas, but since joining the Avalanche he has become a star player.
In 310 games with Colorado the 6'4" winger has 104 goals and 217 points. He is a big part of the team's offense, so hopefully they will get him back soon.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 55 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 80 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||