page_title: Valeri Nichushkin
section_title: Playing career
hierarchical_section_title: Valeri Nichushkin / Playing career
caption_attribution_description: English: 2014-01-30
context_page_description: Valeri Ivanovich Nichushkin is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger who currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League. He was selected by the Stars in the first round, 10th overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
context_section_description: After one season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Nichushkin transferred from Traktor Chelyabinsk to Dynamo Moscow on May 1, 2013. He then signed a two-year contract with Dynamo. However, the deal was terminated conditionally, allowing Nichushkin to play in the NHL, or be returned to Dynamo if he failed to make the NHL team.
  Nichushkin played his first regular season NHL game on October 3, 2013, against the Florida Panthers. He scored his first career NHL goal on November 3, 2013, against Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators.
  After having a solid rookie season (14 goals and 20 assists), Nichushkin suffered from hip and groin soreness in the beginning of his sophomore campaign, 2014–15. Five games into the season, Nichushkin opted for hip surgery, which was performed on November 18, 2014. He rehabbed in New Jersey and re-joined the team in March 2015, practicing in a red no-contact jersey.
  As a restricted free agent following the conclusion of his entry-level deal in the 2015–16 season, Nichushkin and the Stars failed to agree to common grounds in contract negotiations. Unhappy with his current role within the Stars line-up, his KHL rights were traded from Dynamo Moscow to CSKA Moscow on September 20, 2016. He subsequently signed a two-year contract to return to the KHL with CSKA, with his NHL rights to be kept by the Stars.
  After two seasons with CSKA, Nichushkin returned to the Stars organization, in agreeing to a two-year, $5.9 million contract on July 1, 2018. In his return to the Stars in the 2018–19 season, Nichushkin recorded 10 assists in 54 regular-season games, averaging 11:55 time on ice per game. Nichushkin skated in one game during the playoffs with the Stars and failed to record a point.
  After a disappointing campaign in failing to score a goal through 57 games, Nichuskin was placed on unconditional waivers and subsequently bought out from the remaining year of his contract with the Stars on 30 June 2019.
  Nichushkin signed a one year, $850k contact with the Colorado Avalanche on August 19, 2019. Nichuskin scored his first goal in 2 years on November 23, 2019.
caption: Nichushkin in January 2014
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D60", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.01", "Image DateTime": "2014:01:30 20:52:03", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "29048", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9177", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:01:30 20:52:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:01:30 20:52:03", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "80", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "28908", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "300", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}