Some light was finally shed on the Valeri Nichushkin case yesterday and gave the Dallas Stars decent odds at having the forward back for the 2017-18 season. Could it really happen?
The Dallas Stars had plenty of question marks to deal with as they entered the 2017 offseason back on April 8. After closing out the 2016-17 season with a 34-37-11 record with 79 points and landing 15 points from the final playoff spot in the West, there was a lot to mull over.
Who would be the new goaltender that they desperately needed and how would they go about finding him? After letting go of Lindy Ruff, would any of the coaches searching for a job prove to be the right fit? And what about the defense? Would any fixing be necessary?
GM Jim Nill got to work immediately and began flying down the checklist. Within the first month, he had a new head coach in Ken Hitchcock and a new starting goaltender in Ben Bishop. There is still some more spots that need filling in order for this team to become “great” once again, but they are already well ahead of the curve.
But even with all of the new acquisitions and alignments, there is still one question mark that is prodding from within: Valeri Nichushkin.
Mile High Sticking
The 22-year-old was drafted by the Dallas Stars at tenth overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft when he was 18. Coming out of Russia, he had a great first season with the Stars, scoring 14 goals and tallying 34 points in 79 games at the NHL level. He added a goal and an assist in the postseason that year as well.
His sophomore year was riddled with injuries and left him out of commission for much of the year. After hip surgery in early November of 2014, Nichushkin only played eight games for Dallas and tallied one assist.
Nichushkin came back for his third season with the Dallas Stars and put up similar numbers to his first year (9-20=29).
But as training camp began in September 2016, it was clear that something was up. On September 20, Nichushkin agreed to a two-year contract with CSKA Moskva in the KHL over in his home country of Russia. He cited his departure was due to the Dallas coaching staff not trusting him enough. In turn, Nill stated that he hoped that the Stars would get back a more mature player when the contract expired.
Now it looks as though number 43 might be returning before his contract in the KHL expires.
There have been speculations and assumptions since the offseason began, but none have had any evidence backing them considering the whole situation had been kept quiet. Could Nichushkin opt out of the final year in his deal or was it binding? Would he want to come back considering the NHL is not allowing players to play for their home countries in the 2018 Winter Olympics?
There were plenty of questions that left the situation in the balance, but some light was finally shed on the subject yesterday.
Mike Morreale tweeted out that the Stars’ director of amateur scouting said that there is a “50-50 chance” that Nichushkin will return to the Dallas Stars next year.
DAL dir/amateur scouting Joe McDonnell said it's 50/50 whether Val Nichushkin returns to team for this season. Has 1 yr left on CSKA cntrct
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) June 2, 2017
Some of you may have thought the odds would be better than that, but chances are you probably didn’t expect them to be as high as 50-50. That’s a big deal.
The reason it is a big deal is because of all the effects that his return could have. First off, he would solve a large portion of the Stars’ right wing crisis. Right now, Dallas only has two RW’s on their roster (Brett Ritchie and Adam Cracknell). They would need to do some searching and buying during the offseason to fix that unless Nichushkin comes back.
Nichushkin played a large portion of his rookie year next to Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin and thrived in the role. Imagine what he could potentially do now.
Bringing him back would also give him a fresh start under a new coaching staff and with a younger group. It could be the perfect time for him to rejoin.
These reports mean very little at the current moment, and we probably won’t hear any major announcement until the middle of summer. Nichushkin might be waiting to see exactly what the Stars do in the offseason before deciding on which way he wants to go.
Next: A Dallas Stars Offseason Survival Guide
But this is definitely a good sign because it shows that Nichushkin is at least contemplating a return to the Dallas Stars organization. Will it happen?