Injuries have hit the Avalanche hard all season but they got some good news three weeks ago when Valeri Nichushkin was able to return to the lineup after undergoing ankle surgery following a six-week absence. However, his absence from yesterday’s loss to Arizona was noteworthy and head coach Jared Bednar confirmed to Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link) that the winger has re-injured his ankle. There is no timetable for his return.
The 27-year-old is in the first season of an eight-year, $49MM contract signed back in July to avoid free agency. He got off to a great start before originally being injured, notching a dozen points in his first seven games but his output had dipped since his return as Nichushkin had just four assists in the eight contests he played in this month. Even so, he still sits seventh in scoring for Colorado despite missing more than half the season due to injuries.
Nichushkin rejoins an injured group that includes (but isn’t limited to) center Nathan MacKinnon, winger Gabriel Landeskog, defensemen Josh Manson and Bowen Byram, and even goaltender Pavel Francouz. All told, the Avs have over $27MM in contracts for players that are currently unavailable due to injuries. Even with LTIR, Colorado has been icing lineups lately that have been below the salary cap floor and with most of their injured players still facing extended absences, that’s unlikely to change in the near future.
In spite of the injuries, Colorado is still hanging around the playoff mix as they’re tied for a Wild Card position and are only two points out of the final guaranteed spot in the Central Division. Unfortunately, they’re going to have to hang around the mix without another key winger in Nichushkin who is now facing another absence.
Why does it seem like Nichushkin rushed back before he was ready?