How Important Val Nichushkin is to Avalanche

Valeri Nichushkin was a goal-scoring machine for the last four games before the holiday break. A few days off didn’t slow the 29-year-old down as he earned an assist in the 4-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club to extend his point streak to five games.

“Coming back off his injury, the one thing is a little bit of his puck play and his hands, and I felt like he fought through that and caught a hot streak there and cooled off a little bit,” head coach Jared Bednar said after the 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday. “The thing about Val is, he’s always going to be at like, 80, 85% of his game or better. I’m never really going to watch his game and be like, ‘Man, he was terrible tonight.’ It just doesn’t happen.”

Nichushkin has 17 points (11g, 6a) in 20 games this season. He missed the first 17 games due to suspension while in Stage 3 of the NHL Players Assistance Program. He has shifted from the second line with Casey Mittelstadt at center to the top line with Nathan MacKinnon. His wingers have rotated, but he’s found success 5-on-5 and on the power play with Ross Colton, Artturi Lehkonen, and Mikko Rantanen.

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“Anybody you put Val with, he’s always on attack mentality. To put him with a guy like Mikko or Nate, even Lehky (Lehkonen), for that matter, they get the puck to each other so well,” Cale Makar said. “He’s a guy that can get the puck and then he can also put in the net too. He’s a really hard-working guy, another guy that you love to see get rewarded game to game.”

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound forward is a presence in front of the net, where he is most effective. He also defends well and plays on both the power play and penalty kill, which makes him a valuable two-way player.

“He’s just a beast. Every time watch him play, super easy to play with out there. And you get that guy net front, he’s tough to move, and it’s easy to see from other guys trying to push him out of the way. So yeah, he’s been a force for us,” defenseman Sam Malinski said.

Nichushkin’s longest goal streak was last season from Nov. 13 – 24, 2023. He scored seven goals over six consecutive games. He managed to net four goals in four straight games (one in each) but that streak ended in Utah. His assist, however, continued his point streak.

“I think Val played really well, even before that streak. It’s paid off and he’s played unreal. He’s a really easy guy to play with, for sure,” Lehkonen said after the win over Utah.

Nichushkin and Lehkonen have connected well on the top line with MacKinnon, which Bednar said is by design.

“They’re on that line for a reason. They’re able to provide Mack (MacKinnon) with things that are beneficial to him. Net presence, lots of hard work in the corners and coming up with pucks and keeping pucks alive. That line’s found some chemistry,” Bednar said.

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