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Valeri Nichushkin, a forward for the Colorado Avalanche has been suspended six months without pay.
Before the Avalanche take on the Dallas Stars in Game 4 on May 13, the NHL announced that Nichuskin, who signed an eight-year $49 million contract in July of 2022, has been suspended for six months without pay. He has six years left on his deal that pays him $6.125 million per season.
“The National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association announced today that forward Valeri Nichushkin of the Colorado Avalanche has been placed in Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program of the NHLPA and NHL. Under the terms of the joint program, Nichushkin will be suspended without pay for a minimum of six months and then will be eligible to apply for reinstatement,” the NHL wrote in a statement.
After the news became public, NHL insider for DailyFaceoff.com, Frank Seravalli reported that Nichushkin failed a drug test.
“Sources say Nichushkin recently failed a drug test,” Seravalli wrote.
Nichushkin has 9 goals and 1 assist in 10 playoff games for the Avalanche this season.
Nichushkin Missed Playoff Games in 2023
This will be the second straight season that Nichushkin has missed playoff games.
Last year, as the Avalanche were playing the Seattle Kraken, team workers found a “highly intoxicated” woman in Nichushkin’s room when the team doctors were checking in on the Russian forward. The police were then called, according to the Denver Post.
Nichushkin went on to miss the rest of the first-round series which the Avalanche called due to “personal reasons.”
The police report didn’t specify if Nichushkin was also under the influence, but no charges were ever laid in the incident.
The Denver Post also reported that the woman hit an Avalanche staff member who decided not to press charges. The police recorded the woman saying she “should never have come to the United States and that some guy took her passport and he was a bad person.”
After missing the rest of the playoffs, Nichushkin wouldn’t reveal what happened at the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
“I know you guys want to find something there, but it’s nothing really interesting,” Nichushkin said, via the Seattle Times. I think we should close it. It’s a new season right now. We have to focus on that.”
In the 2023-24 NHL regular season, Nichushkin recorded 28 goals and 25 assists for 53 points in 58 games.
Avalanche Have Back Against The Wall
Colorado is currently down 2-1 in their first-round playoff series against Dallas.
The Avalanche dropped Game 3 at home in a game that head coach Jared Bednar liked the way they played but feels like his team made some costly mistakes.
“I felt like we carried some long stretches of the game for the first 40 minutes. My one take would be we’ve got to make it a little bit tougher on Oettinger, getting traffic there,” Bednar said, via NHL.com. “We had a couple of really good looks in the first and didn’t do it. We had a couple of really good looks in the second and next thing you know, we’re down by one.
“Just kind of feels like we push, push, push and then we make one mistake and it ended up in the back of the net in the second, which is unfortunate. But you can’t make those mistakes against Dallas because they have the ability to [capitalize],” Bednar said.
Game 4 is set for May 13 as Colorado looks to even up the series. Game 5 is set to take place in Dallas on May 15.
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Avalanche’s $49 Million Forward Suspended For Failing Drug Test: Report