The Colorado Avalanche will see Valeri Nichushkin for the first time Tuesday in Columbus, a matchup that lands less like a reunion and more like a reckoning. Colorado dealt him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for draft picks and cap flexibility, and now he is on the other bench for the first time.
That is why this game is being searched now: it is the first time the Avalanche will face the winger they once built around, then moved on from when roster realities and his age and contract finally caught up. Nichushkin is now in Columbus, and he will return to Ball Arena in mid-February.
The trade only makes sense against the arc that came before it. Colorado stood behind Nichushkin through two costly suspensions and helped him rehabilitate, then got two years of incident-free, quality hockey in return. For a stretch after the trade deadline in 2024, the Avalanche looked like the NHL's best team. They rolled through Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets in the opening round, then hit the Dallas Stars in the second round with a lineup that still had a real chance to go deep.
Then the floor dropped out. On the morning of Game 4, Jonathan Drouin announced he was coming back into the lineup, and a few hours later the season was effectively over for Nichushkin and for Colorado's hopes. He was suspended ahead of Game 4 for at least six months and sent back to the NHLPA Players Assistance Program for the third time. Mikko Rantanen called it a shock, said everyone was shocked a little bit, and added that Nichushkin had been a big piece of the group and was having a really good playoff that year. He also said it was a sad moment for everyone.
The anger inside the room did not vanish just because the organization kept supporting him. More than one player in the Avalanche locker room was very angry with Nichushkin during the second round of the 2024 playoffs, and Jack Johnson fumed after Game 4. Colorado still rallied for a Game 5 win before the inevitable came after Game 6. That is the backdrop for Tuesday in Columbus: not just a game against an old teammate, but the first public test of how a once-central player fits into a new chapter after two suspensions, a long recovery and a trade made for the future.
What remains unanswered is the exact price Colorado got back in the deal. The Avalanche moved Nichushkin for draft picks and cap flexibility, but the specific picks were not detailed. Tuesday is the first meeting; mid-February brings the return trip, when the story gets another turn at Ball Arena.
