Valeri Nichushkin leaves the Avalanche for unknown reasons

Valeri Nichushkin was a big part of the Avalanche’s 2022 championship team, scoring 15 points in 20 games during his team’s playoff run. However, the Avalanche may have to do without him for a considerable period of time.

After a strong Game #2 against the Kraken, Nichushkin didn’t warm up in Seattle, and he didn’t play in the third game of the series.

After the match, Jared Bednar confirmed that the Russian had had to leave the team for personal reasons. This was neither an injury nor a disciplinary measure.

Nichushkin didn’t just leave the team. He was escorted by security to the Seattle airport, where he boarded a plane to go… somewhere. When asked if he was back in Colorado, team officials said they didn’t know.

This last detail, combined with the current situation in Russia, raises serious questions about the reasons for his departure.

The striker’s agent was also unable to confirm whether his absence would be prolonged.

We’re only at the speculative stage, and we can’t rule out another personal problem.

However, Russia has decided to be tougher on draft dodgers, i.e. men who try to avoid a call to surrender to the army. We’re talking about electronic alerts and paper subpoenas . Could there be a link between the two? We know that threatening the families of people who oppose the Russian war mentality is part of the government’s routine…

On the ice, this is a big loss for the Avalanche, who already don’t count on the services of Gabriel Landeskog. In reality, what happens on the ice may be of minimal importance to Nichushkin.

In Bursts

– Maximum fine for Sam Lafferty.

– Big news from Montreal CF.

– Nice stat on Sam Bennett.