Dallas Stars Report Cards: Valeri Nichushkin
The Dallas Stars had a dynamo in the making with Valeri Nichushkin before his hip injury. Now that his first full season back is in the books, here’s his end of the year grades!
The Dallas Stars drafted Valeri Nichushkin back in the first round of the 2013 Entry Draft. That same year, he debuted with the Stars and made quite the initial impression for pretty much the entire season, also helping to man the crew that broke into the 13-14 playoff territory.
However, a hip injury suffered early on in the 15-16 season kept Big Val out for quite some time and has made his lightning quick break into the league a long-gone fairytale.
Regular Season Recap
The 15-16 season saw the most of Nichushkin since his rookie year. After undergoing surgery to correct his hip injury and completing extensive rehab, Nichushkin took the ice in 79 of 82 games this season. In that time, he scored 9 goals and notched 20 assists, with 1 PPG and 1 game winner.
While many of us were hoping that Nichushkin would perhaps just fall back into his place on what was an explosive, natural-feeling top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, that perfect click never quite happened this season. This could perhaps owe to Nichushkin still feeling the waters out after his extensive injury and taking the long road back to his old self.
More often this season, Nichushkin found himself on lines with Vernon Fiddler and Colton Sceviour, and also with Mattias Janmark and Jason Spezza. These are all players who had valuable seasons and contributed to the depth let this team peer deeper into the playoffs than they’d ever seen before.
That being said, even though the first line was sans Big Val a vast majority of the season, Nichushkin did get some playing time with some other first rate players perhaps slightly more out of the limelight. In my opinion, this was the perfect scenario for a returning season in which he did still seem slightly hesitant.
Playoff Recap
Nichushkin played 10 games during the Stars’ playoff run, and tallied a single point from 1 assist in that time. He ended up with a -2 rating and generated 11 shots. This seems to further prove that Nichushkin probably just needs some more time in less pressured situations in order to naturally revert back to a place of the production we saw from him in his first NHL season.
There were points during the season, and the playoffs especially, when Nichushkin’s play was frustrating and I, personally, was advocating for his removal from the team at certain points. However, the frustration was due much more to a level of expectation that was based on what we’ve seen Big Val to be capable of doing.
To say that he’s not there right now is not to say that he could never return there again. But on the other hand, it’s also not to say that he’ll recover fully and be able to start dazzling like he did before his hip injury.
Contract Situation
Nichushkin signed a 3 year entry-level deal with the Dallas Stars in 2013, making him eligible to become a restricted free agent this summer. There are a lot of external and internal variables that might influence what the Stars choose to do when that time arrives.
Since signing Nichushkin, the Stars have accumulated a vast wealth of young talent to keep their lines offensively well-stocked. Kids like Mattias Janmark and Radek Faksa, who both joined the ranks this season, performed and fit in well and for all intents and purposes should be counted in for the foreseeable future.
That being said, will the Stars perhaps perceive future seasons as time wasted in waiting for Nichushkin to return to former glory? On top of that, the Stars selected Denis Guryanov, another young Russian winger, in the last Draft and noted especially his similarities to Nichushkin.
Maybe the Stars have an opportunity here to hit the reset button and adhere to the proverbial, albeit slightly insensitive in this scenario, out with the old and in with the new.
What should the Stars do?
Although it won’t earn me any popularity points, with the talent that the Stars have rising and proving their worth on the team now, I would not call Nichushkin a must-keep. However, considering the fact that he is only 21 and has been with the Dallas Stars rather contentedly for his entire NHL career, it seems highly likely that the Stars will negotiate a deal and he’ll be back next season.
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Considering that the Stars have multiple unrestricted free agents that will free up some cap space, be much easier to unload, and will be much easier to part with, it would be a wise move for the Stars to hang on to Nichushkin and give him the next season or two that he needs to continue to grow and develop as a player.
Bottom Line
Nichushkin made waves in his rookie year, and it’s a place we all have been hoping he can return to since recovering from hip surgery. Although he hasn’t made it there yet, he’s clearly not done developing and doesn’t have intentions of slowing down.
At 21, he’s still young and can play on any line the Stars decide to add him to. Because of his versatility and his potential, the Dallas Stars should hold onto Nichushkin this summer. With his youth and promise, despite his injury haunting him, he can offer Dallas many good seasons to come.
Next: Valeri Nichushkin: Back, But Not Better Than Ever
Depending on whether he can fully bounce back from the hip surgery, that could mean that Nichushkin could earn a more permanent keep with the Stars. If other young players continue to outshine him, it could be a more temporary arrangement.