Deen’s Daily: Nichushkin Return Inches Closer; Blackwood Blanks NJ; Fabbro Claimed

Only two games remain for the Colorado Avalanche until the return of Valeri Nichushkin. With the injection of Artturi Lehkonen already making a difference, Nichushkin will give the team another massive addition to the lineup. He’ll likely line up on the second line with Casey Mittelstadt and give the No. 2 center a high-scoring winger option for the first time all year. Mittelstadt has 16 points in 15 games but has played mostly with rookies like Nikolai Kovalenko and Calum Ritchie, or traditional veteran bottom-six forwards like Logan O’Connor and Joel Kiviranta. He’ll welcome this addition with open arms.

On my podcast, Rinkside with Aarif Deen, I interviewed Mittelstadt days before the season began and asked him about welcoming Nichushkin back. His response is worth a second viewing.

Colleen Flynn also wrote more about what the addition of Nichushkin will mean for the Avs lineup and spoke to some of his teammates about it, too. You can find that here behind the CHN+ paywall. Join us as a subscriber to take full advantage of our more exclusive content.

Sam Malinski: The young Avs defenseman scored his first goal of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. After starting a bit slow, you could start to see Malinski’s game come on recently and he’s being rewarded for it. Not only did he drive to the net and pick up a rebound to pot home his first of the season, but his ice time has also been elevated. Head coach Jared Bednar has also sporadically used Malinski in the top four when someone else is struggling or when more offense is needed. He’s earned it.

Around The NHL

San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks defeated the New Jersey Devils 1-0 on Sunday. Former Sharks forward, who was traded to the Devils, accidentally redirected a puck into his own net. And a former Devils goalie, who was later picked up by San Jose, earned the shutout victory. The Sharks are suddenly 5-2-0 in their last seven games. Here’s how they’re doing it.

New Jersey hockey Now: You can also get the Devils’ point of view here, which highlights post-game notes from head coach Sheldon Keefe following the 44-save shutout loss.

Detroit Hockey Now: Pavel Datsyuk, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame over the weekend, chatted with a Russian news outlet about the honor. He also commented on a teammate he hopes to see join him in the Hall of Fame soon. More on that here from our team in Detroit. 

Dante Fabbro: The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed defenseman Dante Fabbro off waivers. The former Nashville defenseman was a causality of a slow start to his and the Predators’ season. Nashville is dead last in the Western Conference after starting the year 5-9-1.