Dallas Stars: Valeri Nichushkin’s Potential With New Coaching Staff

Is Valeri Nichushkin coming back to town? It seems like it, and the Dallas Stars could finally provide the right fit for the young winger to flourish.

The Dallas Stars’ last several seasons have been fraught with stories of players who, for whatever reasons, were unable to live up to their full potential. While thankfully the exact opposite has also been true at times, the poorly-timed failures and the confusing backslides are always far more noticeable and haunting.

Haunting, because can we ever really be sure of the Jenga-tower of reasons that construct such disappointments? Who’s to know which factor, when eliminated from the situation, will be the one that destroys the problem altogether and sets it all right again?

Usually, there is a vast and interwoven complex of contributing factors, but often these issues right themselves when you’re not even looking. Scoring droughts are snapped in magical moments that chase away any trace of a dried-up offense, and defenders jump back in from healthy scratches fired up to prove their worth. The solutions to these problems are often worked out behind the scenes, in conversations we will probably never hear.

But the most haunting of all are the issues that don’t get resolved- the ones that leave you wondering. A lot of people, including myself, would lump Valeri Nichushkin into this category.

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Mix up talent to spare, youth, a promising start- and then add in injury, a bad system fit, miscommunication, and lack of experience one by one and shake vigorously until it explodes or something breaks.

It’s clear that Val had a lot of setbacks in his time in Dallas, all of which caused underperformance that will still eat some of us alive if we dwell on it too long. But as the Dallas Stars are reinventing themselves in a more permanent way this offseason, the question arises: is this finally the right environment for Big Val to flourish?

It’s no secret that the Stars have been slowing down in a game that is only increasing its careening speed season after season.

The NHL belongs to the swift, the agile, and those that skate like the wind. Not so much the big bodies and the slammers anymore (although they do still have a very important place). Under Lindy Ruff and even briefly under Ken Hitchcock, you would have thought that “big body” was the best compliment someone in the Stars organization could receive.

However, in a changing hockey world, if you want to keep up, you need the best of both worlds. A physically commanding player who can skate quickly and with ease, and has smooth puck handling skills. What we’re describing, of course, is Val Nichushkin at his best. It’s one of the reasons the right-winger was often the perfect edition to Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn‘s top line.

While we can argue pretty effortlessly that Alexander Radulov has filled that spot very nicely, if we’re peering into the Dallas Stars’ future, we can very easily see a similar role needing a similar player for the Stars on the second line and in their depth scoring (don’t believe us? Here, let us convince you.) All in all, the need for Nichushkin has probably never been greater.

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But the real question is, will the fit be right this time? Rumors flew about the rift between Val and the coaching staff when he went overseas to the KHL two years ago, and were denied by his agent. However, one thing you can’t deny is that certain systems fit certain players, and some don’t. Just take a look at the leaps and bounds Seguin made this season under Hitch.

With the new coaching staff the Stars have added (in Todd Nelson and Jim Montgomery) as a beacon of hope for next season, it’s obvious that the Dallas Stars are getting younger- not only on their bench, but also behind it. Younger blood and boots on the ground could get the Stars more in touch with the rapidly changing pace of NHL play in 2018 and beyond.

And if you needed proof that the NHL is changing, this Stanley Cup race is exhibit A. Two teams without a single Cup win under their belts, one in its very first ever NHL season. And they both got to the finals not through throwing their weight around, but through blistering speed and impressive puck possession IQ.

If the Stars want to keep up next season (if any team does), those are the tenets they’re going to need to adopt. So aptly, Dallas has hired a coach and assistant coach that have demonstrated the ability to bring that mindset and push it to play out on the ice.

So the ultimate question is: will younger, faster coaches equal a Nichushkin that lives up to his potential at long last? Reports are that Val is ready to come back to Dallas next season, and the desire is mutual on the part of the Stars.

Next: The Youth Movement: Young Coaches Are Best Choice For Stars

For that decision, all there is to do now is wait. And if Nichushkin does make his way back to the Big D, we’ll all be on the edge of our seats to see if the Stars’ beneficial change of culture finally takes for Val in his take two with the team.