The Colorado Avalanche is as healthy as it’s been all season.
Valeri Nichushkin is going to return Wednesday night against the New Jersey Devils. He’s been out since Dec. 31 with a lower-body injury. He’s expected to start on the second line and the second power-play unit.
Nichushkin, who also missed the start of the season while completing a six-month suspension after being placed in Stage 3 of the NHL-NHLPA player assistance program, has 11 goals and 17 points in 21 games.
“He’s just a big force who plays in all situations. I feel like he’s very valuable to our team,” Avs forward Casey Mittelstadt said. “Obviously offensively, he scores a ton of goals, but also on the defensive side of it as well. He’s a huge body. He’s just a really, really, really good hockey player. So yeah, he definitely will be a big boost for us.”
After a season full on injury and availability issues, the only players left on the infirmary report are Josh Manson, who hasn’t played since Feb. 4 but skated Tuesday morning at Family Sports Center, and captain Gabe Landeskog.
Leaving Landeskog out of the discussion, this is only the second time in 60 games that Avs coach Jared Bednar will have the 10 players he wants to put on the two power-play units available to him. The first time it happened, Jonathan Drouin was injured late in the second period, so Colorado still hasn’t completed a game with those guys.
The Avs have also missed other key players for chunks of this season, but Nichushkin’s presence has been a difference-maker. Colorado is 14-7 when Nichushkin plays and 19-17-2 when he doesn’t this season.
“It’s so much of the game,” Drouin said. “Power play, PK, his size at the net front, 5-on-5, there’s so many things that he does with that frame of his. It will be nice to have him back. Just to see him practicing on the ice and his size, he’s a beast. We’re going to need him.”
Nichushkin has been one of the best wings in the NHL over the past four seasons. He has produced at an 82-game pace of 35 goals and 73 points during the regular season, while also being an elite defensive forward.
He’s been even better in the postseason, with 19 goals in 30 Stanley Cup Playoff games. The issue has been availability. His issues have been well documented.
Nichushkin has finished the past two postseasons away from the team. When he was suspended the morning of Game 4 of a second-round playoff series against Dallas, he was leading the tournament in goals. And that night, after the shellshocked Avs were blitzed by the Stars, it was hard to envision a scenario where Colorado would place so much of its hopes in him ever again.
But, this season has been dominated by injuries and roster upheaval. The Avs improved the goaltending with a pair of trades. Trading Mikko Rantanen did net an extra depth forward, but scoring beyond the top line and the power play has been a huge problem of late.
Enter Nichushkin, who won’t be the elixir for all of the club’s ills. But he immediately makes a line that doesn’t include Nathan MacKinnon more dangerous. He will likely help the top power-play unit in the near future, assuming he stays healthy, and be a fixture on the penalty kill.
Drouin is right. The Avs need Nichushkin. How badly they need him might be an uneasy feeling, but when he’s at his best there are few players in this league who are more impactful.
“It’s both sides of the puck,” Bednar said. “He’s one of the top players in the league, so getting him back will be helpful.
“He’ll certainly help some of the guys he’s playing with regularly and he’ll help our team in turn. But we’ve still got some work to do on the scoring side of it.”
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