Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Valeri Nichushkin was born March 4, 1995, in Chelyabinsk, Russia. He is a left winger in the National Hockey League.

Nichushkin played his first regular season NHL game on October 3, 2013 and scored his first career NHL goal on November 3, 2013. After two seasons with CSKA, Nichushkin returned to the Stars organization, by signing to a two-year, $5.9 million contract in 2018. In his return to the Stars in the 2018–19 season, Nichushkin recorded 10 assists in 54 regular-season games.

Nichushkin signed a one-year, $850k contract with the Colorado Avalanche in 2019 and scored his first goal in 2 years on November 23, 2019.  Nichushkin finished the 2019-20 season with 13 goals and 27 points while leading all forwards in the NHL in defensive Goals Above Replacement.On October 10, 2020, the Avalanche re-signed Nichushkin, who was a restricted free agent, to a 2-year, $5 million contract extension. In his third season with Avalanche, Nichushkin scored a career-best 52 points in 62 games, adding 15 points in 20 playoff games. On July 11, 2022, Nichushkin signed an eight-year, $49 million extension to stay with the Avalanche.