Avalanche sign Valeri Nichushkin

The Colorado Avalanche have signed free agent forward Valeri Nichushkin to a one-year contract. The deal is one-way worth $850k.

Nichushkin, 24, played in 57 games for the Dallas Stars last season while battling some lower-body injuries. When healthy enough to play, Nichushkin recorded just 10 assists and didn’t tally a single goal.

The 6-foot-4 210-pound winger has had a tumultuous career, after making the Stars as an 18-year-old and posting a promising 34 point rookie season in 2013-14. His sophomore season was limited to just eight games due to a nagging groin injury that would require surgery and keep him off the ice for the majority of the year. A solid bounce-back year in 2015-16 flashed some of the promise Dallas had hoped to see from him, but once the year was through Nichushkin opted to leave for the KHL when contract negotiations broke down and alleged dislike of the coaching situation in Dallas boiled over.

After two years of good but not great hockey in the KHL, Nichushkin decided to come back to North America. Dallas retained his rights for the 2018-19 season and signed him to a two year $2.95 million dollar deal. He was ultimately bought out by Dallas at the end of last season, opening him up to the free agency market.

Nichushkin is another reclamation project added to an Avalanche roster that is already fairly tight. If he can shake the injury bug, he may be able to carve out a role for himself in the NHL. Nichushkin marks the 13th signed forward on the NHL roster for the Avs with Mikko Rantanen still left to sign. Competition on the wings should be fierce in training camp and it will be up to him to earn his keep.

As usual, some fancy stats: