NHL Rules Nichushkin Eligible To Play Next Season; No Investigation Ongoing

The NHL (apparently) has all the details they need regarding the incident in April regarding Valeri Nichushkin at the Colorado Avalanche team hotel, and they’ve made their determination.

Nichushkin is eligible to play next season.

Speaking before Game One of the Stanley Cup Final, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Commissioner Gary Bettman were asked about the incident and the league’s involvement.

“There’s no ongoing investigation,” Bill Daly said. “We know exactly what happened. It was handled appropriately at the club level, and, I think, at the league level. And he’s eligible to play in the league.”

So I guess that settles that…kind of?

The league claims they know exactly what happened, but no one else really does. The body camera footage released this week doesn’t really clear anything up, and all the reports since the incident haven’t really given clarity on what actually happened. Colorado has still not commented on the situation, and likely will not. We already knew there was no ongoing investigation, but the body camera footage showed that the Avalanche forward wasn’t present at the hotel anymore when the police showed up, which still seems strange. Hopefully all parties involved are doing okay.

Now, while the league says Nichushkin is eligible to play next season, that doesn’t automatically mean he will play. He still left the team for personal reasons, and until he is confirmed to be back, there’s no guarantee.

“I can’t comment on anything Val related, other than to say he was a very important part of our team in the past, and that’s our hope, that he’s going to be a very important part of our team in the future.”

That was general manager Chris MacFarland on May 9.

So while I would guess Nichushkin is playing next season, nothing is confirmed just yet. The NHL also confirmed the salary cap is only expected to go up $1 million, so things will be tight for every team in the league, not just the Avalanche.

Stay tuned to CHN for all your Avalanche news moving forward.