Avs are between a rock and a hard place with Nuke.
It sucks, but IMO people are delusional if they think management is going to wait and hope for the best here. The risk is too great. I hope I'm wrong and it works out for everyone (Nuke esp.) but he's lost all faith from the org. IMO
And if he does come back to the lineup they will need to shed cap somewhere. Colton has a NTC and will be hard to replace, maybe Girard but that's a big loss too without someone to fill in. Maybe they pay to move Wood but it won't be easy. A lot hinges on Landeskog I suppose.
I think the Avs will absolutely actively make sure Nichushkin doesn't mess it up this time round. The time to unload the contract was before free agency, so they could make a play on a player, not now and sell for way below market value.
The best play at this point is to go forward with Nichushkin. I think he is one of the most dynamic, gamebreaking players in the game when he's on form. He was a huge reason they won the cup, and they were rolling with him in the lineup last year.
If he screws up again, the contract is terminated (I'm pretty sure) and they'll just have to reload for the following year. But the best value play is to let the process play out, not sell low just to create cap space for nobody.