Valeri Nichushkin's return to the NHL: we now know the date he will come back following Seattle arrest
Valeri Nichushkin has been sorely missed by the Colorado Avalanche this season, and now the veteran will be welcomed back after his off-ice incident.
The Colorado Avalanche have been decimated by injury up front this season, but perhaps their biggest loss of all comes not from injury but from Valeri Nichushkin, who has been in the NHLPA's Player Assistance Program following an arrest in Seattle in 2023. Now however, he has been completing the steps to be eligible for a return to the NHL, with a report now revealing that he has been cleared to practice, and will officially make his Avalanche return on November 15th when they battle the Washington Capitals at home.
This season, the team have seen extended absences of Artturi Lehkonen, who will also make his return in November, Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood and Ross Colton, and yet somehow, they've managed to survive and hover around the .500 mark despite sitting at 5-7-0 through 12 games. In Nichushkin, the team will be getting a potential star back on the wing, as he was on pace for a career high a year ago, posting 53 points in 54 games for Colorado, but unfortunately, the issues that led to his Seattle arrest came back to haunt him.
It's unclear at this point whether it's the last of the issues that have plagued Nichushkin or whether he may miss more time moving forward, but with the NHLPA's Player Assistance Program releasing him, that's a great sign for his future. With a tough schedule ahead, the Avalanche will be hoping to have as many of their players back as possible, and with Lehkonen and Nichushkin already confirmed, this could be a team that starts to heat up in the very near future.
