Confirmed Trade: [CBJ/COL] Valeri Nichushkin for 2026 2nd, 2027 3rd, 2028 5th

[EXTRAS]

Bro looks mostly cooked. And theirs the chance he goes off the rails again.

 

[ViD]

Bro looks mostly cooked. And theirs the chance he goes off the rails again.

A 50 point in 70 games guy for 3 irrelevant picks ? Ok

 

[AslanRH]

Bro looks mostly cooked. And theirs the chance he goes off the rails again.

its the rails that will get him suspended

 

[Flan the incredible]

A 50 point in 70 games guy for 3 irrelevant picks ? Ok

His PPG has been falling the last few years and it was his worse season since 2020. Plus lets not also pretend his personal issues in the past didnt impact his value......which i guarantee a lot of GMs wouldn't touch this guy for free.

I wouldnt be surprised if he falls off even more next year. I hope not but it wouldnt surprise me

 

[Xoggz22]

Goals are goals.

He was being treated poorly and thats why he wasn't preforming like he did in Pitt.

Did you miss the part where I said give him a chance?

I can only assume you have didn't watch cbj games when Chinny was there. Had a nice 20 game run. Had plenty of chances. Requested a trade twice. There are plenty of threads for you to read since you aren't familiar

 

[Stephen]

Colorado is going to be an interesting team in 2026-27 to say the least.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I just get the feeling there's not going to be a happy ending to Val's NHL story but I'd also be happy to be wrong. Fun player to watch when he's engaged. Maybe the Russian contingent in Columbus can reinvigorate him.

 

[Carl Lindros]

its the rails that will get him suspended

this guy knows ball

 

[EXTRAS]

A 50 point in 70 games guy for 3 irrelevant picks ? Ok

Point/game falling, shots/game falling, looks worse by eye test. Dont think his 30s will be kind to him. My belief, is he will fall off a cliff.

I could be wrong though.

 

[PuckFegula]

I just get the feeling there's not going to be a happy ending to Val's NHL story but I'd also be happy to be wrong. Fun player to watch when he's engaged. Maybe the Russian contingent in Columbus can reinvigorate him.

Agreed, unfortunately- 1) I don’t like the seemingly sex-trafficked woman in his hotel room thing, where she was so scared she called the cops despite being in a precarious legal state- I don’t like how that wasn’t resolved. 2) He seemed to do better.. messed up? Brilliance and madness being two sides of the same coin and all, point is- tough to argue against drugs if you feel you were a better player on em.

Hope I’m wrong and he ages gracefully, people are worth a 2nd (or 3rd..) chance.

 

[Jayevs]

its the rails that will get him suspended

More like a chance he goes on the rails again amirite

 

[jaye5d8yp]

I agree that he lost a step last season when it comes to general checking and obviously finishing plays, but was still one of the better forwards high (no pun intended) in the offensive zone. He's able to do smart passes right after zone entries, but they rarely converted to anything.

CBJ got good value for their picks if the decline doesn't continue, and even better value if he's able to slightly bounce back.

 

[ViD]

Point/game falling, shots/game falling, looks worse by eye test. Dont think his 30s will be kind to him. My belief, is he will fall off a cliff.

I could be wrong though.

We got him for free on a good contract

 

[joestevens29]

Point/game falling, shots/game falling, looks worse by eye test. Dont think his 30s will be kind to him. My belief, is he will fall off a cliff.

I could be wrong though.

Seems like a cap dump to me. Colorado got out of his contract and got some assets for him

Lots of term left for a guy that was never healthy during his prime. Add is off ice issues and I’m surprised this wasn’t a trade for a 4th rounder

 

[nbwingsfan]

AVS falling apart , still a great team.

I dont have them in the upper tier anymore though.

I dont even know if they are going to be better than Dallas and Minny out of the Central moving forward.

I’m not sure Colton, Drury and Nikushkin are dropping them out of the upper tier

 

[OversKy]

Jesus man, can't believe thats a TV ad

 

[VanillaCoke]

its the rails that will get him suspended

More like a chance he goes on the rails again amirite

Shame on both you captain obvious for ruining a good joke

 

[biturbo19]

Decent return for a declining asset with off ice concerns.

Not really sure what Columbus are doing in terms of roster construction. I get that they wanted to add offensive firepower...but the mix of player types doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Who knows though...maybe it works somehow.

 

[centipede2233]

Declining player, both in minutes and production. He's played over 60 games 3 times in 7 years and of course the suspension history. At one point this guy was the biggest steal on the Avs. He was dominant the cup run, and he had flashes of being one of the best 2 way forwards in the league for quite a few years.

That Nuke has not existed in 2 seasons, and he was a complete black hole this year in the playoffs. I wish him the best, when he was motivated and on he is such a beast and so talented. When he is not on, he is frustrating and overpriced.

This. I think Colorado recognized the best before date was a couple years back and likely looking to add speed to the roster. Just time for Colorado to move on. I admire the move as it shows proactive thinking. Unlike shanahan who drove the core 4 without wavering and didn’t pivot.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Nuke is definitely still a good player and more valuable than some random picks.

Avs have no cap space, they had to make moves.