Confirmed with Link: Nichushkin back in assistance program; suspended a minimum of six months

[the_fan]

that's option 4...

With 6 years left it's a huge risk and it's going to cost a shitload to move him...and that's if you can find a GM that wants a guy like that in his locker room

Oops yeah sorry, didn’t read your options carefully. Trade him to Chicago maybe. That organization is not shy of being controversial

 

[dahrougem2]

that's option 4...

With 6 years left it's a huge risk and it's going to cost a shitload to move him...and that's if you can find a GM that wants a guy like that in his locker room

It's not going to cost a lot at all. IF the Avs intend on trading him, they won't have to pay up to get rid of him. They simply won't be getting much value back in return. It would be a pure cap dump for the Avs with the acquiring GM thinking he and his organization can "fix" Val.

We see it happen all the time with players. There is some team out there that will happily take a chance on Val knowing if he f***s up again, he's likely finished and they probably won't be on the hook for his contract.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

Pittsburg is the perfect landing zone for Val IMO.

They don’t have much to give asset wise to make other moves. They are in win now mode. They are a vet club and have Malkin on the roster to maybe help rehabilitate him. Now is all that matters while they have Sid and co, so if they can get a season or two out of him and some playoff Val, that’s all they need.

Ship him along for peanuts, possibly adding a sweetener.

That said, it might be some time until anyone knows what his state of mind is moving forward regarding playing in the NHL.

 

[wayninja]

At the end of the day if the options are something like:

1- Give him another chance, if he f***s up again we enter phase 4 and we get rid of his contract for free.
or
2- No Nuke but 3M cap penalty for 6 years and ownership must pay him 75% of what's left on his contract.
or
3- Buyout
or
4- Pay a team premium assets to take him and likely get a bad contract in return

then I'm very confident that they'll pick the first option and Nuke will be back.

Imagine keeping a guy in the locker room that did this to your team.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Imagine keeping a guy in the locker room that did this to your team.

Imagine paying for a ticket and the Avs run that asshole out on the top line.

 

[Balthazar]

It's not going to cost a lot at all. IF the Avs intend on trading him, they won't have to pay up to get rid of him. They simply won't be getting much value back in return. It would be a pure cap dump for the Avs with the acquiring GM thinking he and his organization can "fix" Val.

We see it happen all the time with players. There is some team out there that will happily take a chance on Val knowing if he f***s up again, he's likely finished and they probably won't be on the hook for his contract.

Seems like you're always looking at things through rose-tinted glasses. Like making predictions and straight out assuming that we'll pay a lesser contract termination penalty than Chicago just because we're the Avs. (??)

Or our very problematic player with 6 f***ing years left under contract at over 6M per will get moved for free.

Yea but no. Look how difficult it was to move Vrana with only 1 year left under contract.

 

[willy702]

Imagine keeping a guy in the locker room that did this to your team.

Imagine trying to win a Cup without him. I just don't see it. Trading him for peanuts isn't solving anything, its just virtue signaling. People say the locker room won't take him back but do those other guys in the locker room want to win a Cup or just "do the right thing?"

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

No, he ain’t going back in that room. They’re pissed. Two years in a row.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Imagine trying to win a Cup without him. I just don't see it. Trading him for peanuts isn't solving anything, its just virtue signaling. People say the locker room won't take him back but do those other guys in the locker room want to win a Cup or just "do the right thing?"

I'm pretty sure what they really want to do is get into the second round of the playoffs and have Nuke go on a coke break again.

 

[willy702]

I'm pretty sure what they really want to do is get into the second round of the playoffs and have Nuke go on a coke break again.

Well then get rid of him and bitch and moan when they get knocked out in the first round because every other line but the first gets bashed around.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Well then get rid of him and bitch and moan when they get knocked out in the first round because every other line but the first gets bashed around.

I'm sure the players would prefer taking their chance without him than with him....I know I would.

 

[Chileiceman]

No, he ain’t going back in that room. They’re pissed. Two years in a row.

Was he disliked in general?

 

[Grackle Party]

Was he disliked in general?

I was in Chicago for Avs vs hawks reg season 2023 and someone with distant relation to Makar told me he wasn’t liked in the room. It’s grain of salt an at the time I was shocked but it all makes sense now


Edit: also for context I posted this info after the Seattle series it can probably be dug up

 

[Balthazar]

This guy is a member of the media. I don't know the context of his "investigation" (likely going through social media accounts) but that's a strange post.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1792327907341181076

 

[willy702]

I'm sure the players would prefer taking their chance without him than with him....I know I would.

These guys want another Cup, nothing else matters. That's why you take on mercenaries who aren't necessarily popular. That's why you applaud management for making such moves. I do think if they somehow come around to keeping him they need someone who's going to watch out for him and be his moral buddy. He just seems too removed from the team otherwise and ends up getting messed up with his not so clean crowd. I know no guarantees but if they decide to keep him its because they want that shot at a Cup. If they don't keep him forget it, this team at its best wins 2 rounds.

 

[wayninja]

Imagine trying to win a Cup without him. I just don't see it. Trading him for peanuts isn't solving anything, its just virtue signaling. People say the locker room won't take him back but do those other guys in the locker room want to win a Cup or just "do the right thing?"

Considering the results of the last 2 playoffs, I'm not sure what Nuke brings other than drama and calamity.

Virtue signalling? How many strikes do guys get? Good grief.

Well then get rid of him and bitch and moan when they get knocked out in the first round because every other line but the first gets bashed around.

Yeah, crackhead nuke isn't the answer to our playoff woes.

 

[dahrougem2]

Seems like you're always looking at things through rose-tinted glasses. Like making predictions and straight out assuming that we'll pay a lesser contract termination penalty than Chicago just because we're the Avs. (??)

Or our very problematic player with 6 f***ing years left under contract at over 6M per will get moved for free.

Yea but no. Look how difficult it was to move Vrana with only 1 year left under contract.

You comparing Jakub Vrana to Val Nichushkin is hilarious.

Remember, these are GMs of professional sports clubs. At the end of the day, winning is all that matters to them. How many pieces of shit are on teams right now and we simply don't know it publicly?

Patrick Kane beat up a f***ing taxi driver and is widely regarded as a piece of shit human being, yet that gets glossed over because he plays hockey quite well.

Ryan O'Reilly drove into a Tim Hortons while drunk and all was forgotten because he plays hockey quite well.

Theo Fleury had someone follow him around every day while with the Rangers because they wanted him on the team so bad and didn't care if he did other shit so long as he stayed on the ice.

Some GM out there will take a chance on Val Nichushkin. This isn't a 3rd/4th line tweener we're talking about. This is a near-PPG two way power forward. Those are rare. Hell, I'm convinced that if the locker room wasn't so pissed, the Avs would bring him back - drug issues be damned.

If he wants to go back to Russia, more power to him. But I am 100% certain there is some GM out there willing to trade for Nichushkin thinking he and his organization can "fix" Val.

 

[Balthazar]

But I am 100% certain there is some GM out there willing to trade for Nichushkin thinking he and his organization can "fix" Val.

yes, not for 6 years though

at least not for free

 

[dahrougem2]

yes, not for 6 years though

at least not for free

Teams attach assets to players when they're horrible, not when they have off-ice issues the way Val does.

Some GM out there would be expecting Nichushkin to help his club, this wouldn't be a team with insane cap space taking on a bad contract and burying it thus expecting an asset in return.

For the Avs, it's to simply remove him from that locker room. Nothing more is expected.

We saw Todd Bertuzzi almost kill a man on the ice and the Florida Panthers still traded for him. We read about Slava Voynov beating the f*** out of his wife and there were still NHL teams interested. We saw Mitchell Miller literally ruin a kid's life and not one, but TWO teams tried to acquire him via draft and UFA ELC.

It only takes one GM, and I'm willing to bet there's a GM out there looking at Val and thinking he has the right "culture" to fix him.

 

[Balthazar]

It only takes one GM, and I'm willing to bet there's a GM out there looking at Val and thinking he has the right "culture" to fix him.

Sure. Not for 6 years.

Unless you take a Brendan Gallagher like contract back.

 

[dahrougem2]

Sure. Not for 6 years.

Unless you take a Brendan Gallagher like contract back.

Again, just like I'm speculating in this regard, you are speculating that it's going to be absolutely mandatory for the Avs to absorb a horrible contract in return. It's fine if you think that's the case. I do not.

 

[Balthazar]

Again, just like I'm speculating in this regard, you are speculating that it's going to be absolutely mandatory for the Avs to absorb a horrible contract in return. It's fine if you think that's the case. I do not.

We'll see! Hey if a team takes him for nothing I'll be glad to eat crow!

 

[AllAboutAvs]

These guys want another Cup, nothing else matters. That's why you take on mercenaries who aren't necessarily popular. That's why you applaud management for making such moves. I do think if they somehow come around to keeping him they need someone who's going to watch out for him and be his moral buddy. He just seems too removed from the team otherwise and ends up getting messed up with his not so clean crowd. I know no guarantees but if they decide to keep him its because they want that shot at a Cup. If they don't keep him forget it, this team at its best wins 2 rounds.

Yes they want another Cup and most of them are willing to take mercenaries but they need to be able to count on those mercenaries to actually be in the lineup when it is needed. They cannot count on Nuke.

 

[the_fan]

When you think about it, Nuke didn’t leave the team this time, he failed a drug test. I mean if he passed the drug test he’d be playing. If that makes any difference

 

[Pokecheque]

It sounds like some stupid shit they'd do.

Don’t know if they have much of a choice.