The human is more important than the headline. Let’s make that clear.
But professional sports demand a cold calculus involving performance and tolerance.
Valeri Nichushkin is an amazing hockey player. He features the strength of a bull with an artist’s touch at the net. When he plays for the Avs, they look different, feel different, are different.
They boast a 28-11-3 record this season when he is in the lineup. And 66-19-9 when extrapolated over the past two years entering Wednesday night. This team features more stars than a planetarium — Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen — but a compelling argument exists that Nichushkin remains the most important.
He makes the pieces of the puzzle fit. Without Nichushkin, the Avs are good, but viewed suspiciously as a Stanley Cup contender. With Nichushkin, the Avs cannot be blamed for blocking out a June morning for a raucous parade through the streets of downtown Denver.
In games that can hardly breathe — the NHL postseason — Nichuskin is at his best. When the Avs raised the Cup in 2022, Nichushkin delivered a series of Wows! against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Avs recognized his value, signing him to an eight-year, $49 million contract a few weeks later. In many ways, they chose Nichushkin over the popular Nazem Kadri. And if you watched Tuesday’s game at Calgary, you saw why. Kadri was a rumor. Nichushkin was all over the stat sheet.
The issue with Nichushkin is simple: Can the Avs rely on him? Do they have confidence his present is no longer his past?
“(Confidence is) high. He’s tackled the treatment the way he tackles his on-ice and off-ice conditioning. I’m proud of him,” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said last week. “First and foremost, hopefully, he’s in a good place. He’s a husband, he’s a dad, and he’s a member of our team.”
It is admittedly uncomfortable having a public opinion on somebody’s private life. But the situation exists with Nichushkin. The 28-year-old entered the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program two months ago, saying in a statement, “My goal is to address my issues and prevent any negative outcomes once and for all.”
It represented the second time in eight months that Nichushkin was away from his team. He left the Avs under mysterious circumstances in the first round of the playoffs after an intoxicated woman was found in his hotel room, according to a Seattle police report, and the team never offered an explanation for his absence beyond “personal reasons.”
His leave drew scrutiny because of the stakes. The Seattle Kraken promptly ushered the defending champion Avs into summer vacation. Nichushkin insisted he would have played had the team advanced. Even before he disappeared in the playoffs, it was a difficult season for Nichushkin. He missed 29 games and underwent ankle surgery.
The Avs welcomed him back in September, and he produced like a star — 42 points and 22 goals — before entering the assistance program.
His history creates empathy. Everyone wants Val well. We don’t have the right to know what he’s gone through — and he has politely declined to talk since he came back last week. But I would be lying if I did not wonder if this entire scenario was asking too much of Nichushkin and his teammates to navigate.
After two games, the answer is H-E-double hockey sticks no. Nichushkin rejoined the lineup vs. the Minnesota Wild and skated with the second line. All he did was score a game-winning, power-play goal in overtime. His 22-game absence felt like two minutes. Coach Jared Bednar admitted, “It’s great to have him back, and it’s great to see the support he’s getting, too, from our fans. It can help a guy mentally when he’s feeling supported by the community and by our fans.”
I believe this will work because of the dynamics at play. Nichushkin is not disruptive in the room. He is not the team’s best player, though people who follow the NHL more closely than me consider him a top 30 player in the league even with questions about his reliability. He’s not the quarterback coming back or the face of the franchise. This matters because of how it ties into the culture and fabric.
Nichushkin doesn’t have a loud voice, doesn’t talk much at all publicly as far as I can tell. While the chemistry experiment with Ryan Johansen shattered beakers, Nichushkin is respected because of his dedication. No one is surprised when he’s the last guy on the ice in practice. He is tough and would rather eat barbed wire than miss games because of injury.
“A one of one,” defenseman Devon Toews called him earlier this season.
Nichushkin creates space on the ice, which caffeinates the Avs’ blurry attack. It was in full bloom Tuesday with his nifty pass on a Nathan MacKinnon goal, and his own missile into the back of the net.
Nichushkin has been described as a great teammate. Has hard hat, hooked stick, will travel. We never see him boast or complain.
So, his return appears more than reluctant acceptance. He brings positive things, does big things that demand highlights and little things that win games. I suspect the Avs know they cannot hoist the cup without him.
But his health is paramount.
We all want Val well. And fans want the team to win. This story’s happy ending must include both.
The human is more important than the headline.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
