Valeri Nichushkin Return A Pleasant Surprise

He makes the Avs so much better when he's healthy

Just a few days ago, Jared Bednar said Valeri Nichushkin - along with Josh Manson and Bo Byram - were “not close” to returning. Turns out, he was close to returning. He returned today against the Detroit Red Wings, in fact.

Nichushkin is such a valuable player to the Avs, and he showed why today. It’s not like he was overwhelming on the score sheet (one assist). But he had four shots on net, had a blocked shot and a takeaway and set a great screen on Cale Makar’s first goal of the game.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Avalanche had a pretty good start to the season, with Nichushkin in the lineup. He scored goals in six of his first seven games, but was hurt in an Oct. 25 win in New York. He missed more than a month, came back for a few games, then got hurt again, missing the last three weeks or so. The Avs really struggled in those three weeks.