How did Valeri Nichushkin's NHL career survive only 70 points in his first 230 NHL games?

[Stony Curtis]

Yup. Some people claim that Lias Andersson is still out there on an NHL roster as well. It has yet to be proven.

But grainy footage exists!

 

[VaporTrail]

He paid the GM and coach off to keep him on the roster...Straight cash homie.

 

[Asinine]

His draft position warranted another GM taking a flyer on him. For the most part he was always a useful player in Colorado but just got better in every aspect every year.

He worked his way up the lineup, started as a 4th liner sometimes a healthy scratch, to 3rd liner, middle sixer, to where we are now playing on the top line on a Stanley Cup Champion.

He states in the interview how MacKinnon motivated him to be a better player. I think he worked heavily on his shot last offseason as well.

Not to mention he's a defensive beast and an absolute hound on the puck that will make you jump out of your seat with some of the stuff he does.

 

[Stephen]

Yeah I think a little Kaapo Kakko and a little Jesse Puljujarvi explains Nichushkin's second and third chances.

 

[Tarmore]

Is it a Kaapo Kakko type situation where his defensive and possession game was so good he was worth keeping despite offensive underperformance? Did the Stars just never give up on him until the worst time?

Because his team isn't run by the HF hive mind and actually evaluates players abilities. They saw the potential to turn it around in him and were able to give him time to achieve some of it.

Teams don't always have the luxury of waiting on players. I'm glad they were able and it turned out for them. Hopefully we see more of this in the NHL in the future.

 

[BKarchitect]

His draft position warranted another GM taking a flyer on him. For the most part he was always a useful player in Colorado but just got better in every aspect every year.

He worked his way up the lineup, started as a 4th liner sometimes a healthy scratch, to 3rd liner, middle sixer, to where we are now playing on the top line on a Stanley Cup Champion.

He states in the interview how MacKinnon motivated him to be a better player. I think he worked heavily on his shot last offseason as well.

Not to mention he's a defensive beast and an absolute hound on the puck that will make you jump out of your seat with some of the stuff he does.

That’s what people who haven’t followed his development arc closely don’t understand…Nuke didn’t “come out of nowhere” this season. He’s gone from great bottom six forechecked to incredible mid-six staple to line driving top six winger. He’s been fantastic “in his role” for three years now in Denver. He’s just gradually evolved his game, and the Avs had him start from scratch really - using his size, straight line speed and strength with a really incredible level of determination to make an impact even as his hands let him down. But he’s gradually reintroduced a higher level of finishing and ability to read the game on the offensive zone to become the two-way beast he is.

This was a three year process. Right team, right teammates, right coach, right level of progress at each step - that’s why his success feels very sustainable to Colorado fans - there were no skipped steps, no out of the blue results - this was a very unique progression of a player with the right team and environment. This is the exception to the rule, not the rule.

 

[glovesave_35]

Aside from 2014-2015, when his missed all but 8 games due to injury, Nichushkin's only bad year was 2018-2019 (0 goals, 10 assists in 57GP).

He's basically been a 30-35 point two-way winger his entire career, aside from last season when he was reward with a big ice time jump (14:05 -> 19:02).

This is patently false. His defensive game in Dallas was awful.

 

[glovesave_35]

You have it wrong.

He didn't come back on a bargain bin contract. That came after. He returned from the KHL in 2018/19 on a 2 years, $2.95M per year deal with Dallas. Then got bought out after one year.

He signed with Colorado in the summer of 2019 after very nearly signing with the Islanders before that, but a late call from Sakic telling him to wait until Sakic got back from vacation before signing anything with anybody changed his mind to go with Colorado instead.... And the rest is history.



As for the OPs question. His defensive responsibility was always part of his game. He's had solid metrics for his entire career. But as he said in his recent interview, him and the coach in Dallas did not get along well at all(I believe it was Lindy Ruff), despite he and the Dallas GM having a great relationship.

But he also gave a lot of credit to Mackinnon and Bednar for him becoming the player he is now. He said in that interview in his first year in Colorado, seeing how hard Mackinnon worked not only on the ice but also off the ice even after games working out and stuff, working on his shot every day, etc. etc, he basically said to himself he doesn't have an excuse to not work just as hard if one of the best players in the game is working like that. So he started putting in serious work and that translated not only off the ice but on the ice as well. He became tenacious on the forecheck, back check, his shot has gotten way better, and he's basically legitimately transformed into a legit Top 6 forward with the working mindset of a 3rd line grinder.


He also mentioned Bednar a lot in his interview saying that he's an easy coach to want to play for, often very calm in his speech's and very fair to all players. He said whether you're a 4th line guy or 1st line guy you want to play and earn those minutes with Bednar.

I haven't seen his defensive metrics from his Dallas days, but without a doubt that aspect of his game did not pass the smell test. He was not good defensively, at all.

Let's not rewrite history here. Those of us who watched his early career nightly know the difference in the player then vs now.

 

[Ncit3]

But grainy footage exists!

 

[shadow1]

This is patently false. His defensive game in Dallas was awful.

Ex-Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin signs deal with Colorado Avalanche

A familiar face the Dallas Stars parted ways with this offseason has found a new home within the Central Division.On Monday, the Colorado Avalanche...

www.dallasnews.com

"Nobody's more disappointed than Val the way things went as far as scoring goals," Nill said. "Then on top of that, I sat down with the coaches and they're excited because they love how he's very responsible defensively. He's a big body, he skates well and didn't produce." "He's very sound defensively. Coaches had no problems with him killing penalties, defensive zone, they loved his game that way."

Valeri Nichushkin’s buyout sends a message ahead of free agency: The Stars are shopping

The move saves Dallas $2.25 of cap room this season. Here's what they could do with it.

theathletic.com

"While the 24-year-old was reliable in the defensive zone, there was ultimately too little production to justify a $2.95M cap hit.

 

[Stony Curtis]

Rubber suit. I see a zipper.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I remember reading an article that, within the Avs camp, they had an internal debate about him. The analytics people were getting on the table for Val. The Avs obviously listened to the analytics people. Now, here we are.

Sometimes guys just are just never going to click with their team once they go down a certain path. Who knows. Maybe Tyson Jost becomes a top 6 center for Minnesota?

 

[Kcb12345]

Ex-Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin signs deal with Colorado Avalanche

A familiar face the Dallas Stars parted ways with this offseason has found a new home within the Central Division.On Monday, the Colorado Avalanche...

www.dallasnews.com

Valeri Nichushkin’s buyout sends a message ahead of free agency: The Stars are shopping

The move saves Dallas $2.25 of cap room this season. Here's what they could do with it.

theathletic.com

I haven't seen his defensive metrics from his Dallas days, but without a doubt that aspect of his game did not pass the smell test. He was not good defensively, at all.

Let's not rewrite history here. Those of us who watched his early career nightly know the difference in the player then vs now.

His defensive game really showed in his last season in Dallas. Can't recall how it was before he went to the KHL, but that was the one working part of his game in that final season for Dallas for sure

 

[mm11]

Kakko is going to be great. You all watch. Watch out for the rangers people

 

[Zine]

This illustrates just how small the difference can be between a top and bottom NHLer; or even an NHLer and a Euroleaguer or AHLer.
It's not like Nichushkin was anything that great in the KHL.

There are tons of talented players around. Yet success is often predicated on opportunity, the right coach, an open role, confidence, inspiration, chemistry with a teammate, luck, etc.

Shit, look at Vegas' inaugural year. A bunch of cast-offs (many of whom were eventually bound for Europe) were put in a different situation and they made the Cup Finals.

 

[SwedishFire]

Is it a Kaapo Kakko type situation where his defensive and possession game was so good he was worth keeping despite offensive underperformance? Did the Stars just never give up on him until the worst time?

Is Kakko a good defensive player?

 

[Kshahdoo]

Is Kakko a good defensive player?

They talk about him as a second coming of Hossa on the Rangers board...

 

[SwedishFire]

They talk about him as a second coming of Hossa on the Rangers board...

Good for them!

I remember Kakko as a quick guy around the net, with creative hands and a goalscorers dragshot.

I was maybe wrong.
He did score some in the Worlds his draft year. I suspected the Translation to NHL would be harder for him than Hughes, but he has had it thougher than I would ever guess.

 

[mr figgles]

The title is a bit misleading because he had that one season where he only got 10 points. Aside from that season and 14-15 (where he barely played any games) he's always been on pace for 30+ points.

Even with that year, he still averaged 29 points per season prior to this year. Throw in the other stuff he brings to the table, and it shouldn’t be a mystery as to why he has stuck around.

 

[glovesave_35]

Ex-Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin signs deal with Colorado Avalanche

A familiar face the Dallas Stars parted ways with this offseason has found a new home within the Central Division.On Monday, the Colorado Avalanche...

www.dallasnews.com

Valeri Nichushkin’s buyout sends a message ahead of free agency: The Stars are shopping

The move saves Dallas $2.25 of cap room this season. Here's what they could do with it.

theathletic.com

I can admit to being...somewhat wrong. He was better defensively after he came back from Russia. I never really saw him as "strong" defensively, and I don't recall his PK abilities being that good.

However, before he went back? Nah. Dude was lazy on the backcheck, hung high in the zone looking for the exit pass, and generally didn't look up for the fight.

This isn't me being a jerk who won't admit when they're wrong. You can dig up quotes showing the exact opposite sentiments for his pre-KHL time in Dallas.

 

[OKR]

Because he is what Oilers fans think Puljujärvi is.

 

[Johno]

The fact is that his NHL career didn’t survive. He went to KHL and upon returning, was more or less the same underwhelming player. Only when he was bought out and needed to prove things is when he realized that he needed to put in the work and reinvented himself in a way. That lead to finding success as a checking line player. Which is good for him, but never would have happened in Dallas with the attitude he had.

That is very misleading. The quality of competition he was facing was garbage. He was sheltered like an 18yo rookie.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Should be interesting to see if John Klingberg has the same career resurgence now that he's out of Dallas's system......took a while but it definitely worked out for Nuke.