Avalanche Exploring Options For Valeri Nichushkin

On today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the Colorado Avalanche have included winger Valeri Nichushkin in trade talks. Friedman didn’t allude to how much the Avalanche were pushing for a Nichushkin trade, but it’s no secret that Colorado is looking for more financial flexibility heading into the summer months.

Nichushkin, 31, is signed through the 2029-30 season with a $6.125MM salary. Fortunately for the Avalanche, he only has a 12-team no-trade clause, meaning they could discuss Nichushkin in trade talks with over half of the league.

Throughout his time with the Avalanche, Nichushkin has been hampered by injury concerns. From the start of the 2021-22 season to the end of the 2024-25 season, Nichushkin played a total of 212 games, making him available for approximately 64.6% of Colorado’s contests.

Still, even though injuries were a concern, he was producing when on the ice. Throughout that span, Nichushkin registered 91 goals and 186 points, which would have been good for around 35 goals and 72 points on an 82-game average. Nevertheless, Nichushkin never actually reached the 30-goal plateau, making his over-$6MM salary difficult to swallow at times.

However, Nichushkin put those injury concerns behind him this past season. He still missed 10 games, but it was the first time he had played in 70 or more games in a season since the 2015-16 campaign, when he was only 20 years old. His goal scoring left much to be desired, but he still had a respectable year as a second-line winger, scoring 17 goals and 49 points while averaging 17:44 of ice time.

Additionally, there are a few other aspects of Nichushkin’s game that other teams will be interested in. He’s got good size and isn’t afraid to use it, especially in the postseason. In the playoffs, Nichushkin has been an effective offensive player, scoring 24 goals in his last 49 postseason games.

If Colorado does end up moving him this offseason, it’ll likely be for help on the blue line. The Avalanche will have the flexibility to fill out the rest of their forward corps with depth signings, but have only four defensemen signed through next season.

Depending on how his no-trade list looks, the Avalanche could look to trade Nichushkin to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Dougie Hamilton with some salary retention. No, it wouldn’t give Colorado the short-term flexibility, but it gets them out of Nichushkin’s contract two years earlier while plugging another important part of the roster.