The Colorado Avalanche mildly surprised fans by trading Valeri Nichushkin on the eve of the 2026 NHL Draft. The trade isn’t so much a surprise as the team with whom the swap occurred.
The 31-year-old former Avalanche went to the Columbus Blue Jackets, netting Colorado three more picks. In reality, however, the return boils down to the 2026 second-rounder. The other two picks are a bit further off into the distance, not making them a factor this year.
That aside, the trade aimed to rectify a mistake that the organization made four years ago.
Following the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup victory in 2022, the team had two key free agents to worry about: Valeri Nichushkin and Nazem Kadri. The team could only realistically keep one. So, they kept Nichushkin.
Kadri, for his part, held out as long as he could. But ended up signing with the Calgary Flames after it was clear the Avalanche weren’t going to afford him.
From the get-go, it was evident that the organization kept the wrong guy. The Avalanche signed Nichushkin to an eight-year, $49 million deal. And for the most part, Nichushkin had a so-so time in Colorado thereafter.
He had one 28-goal season, and that was pretty much it. His production has declined, prompting the Avalanche to sell now on a declining asset.
As for Kadri, he signed a seven-year, $49 million contract in Calgary. While Kadri never lived up to the 87-point season he had in his final year in Colorado, he did bounce back to score 35 goals in 2024-25.
By the 2026 offseason, it was clear Colorado had chosen to keep the wrong player. But that was evident even before the ink was dry in 2022.
Four years later, the Avalanche re-acquired Kadri and jettisoned Nichushkin. Joe Sakic undid one of Chris MacFarland’s mistakes, giving the organization some additional cap space.
Avalanche have more cap space to play with
The Avalanche now have $10.9 million in cap space to play with this summer. There are still a couple of free agents to re-sign in Brett Kulak, Brent Burns, and Joel Kiviranta. The bottom six should no longer be an issue, given how Fyodor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux should round out that group.
And while the Nichushkin trade screams cap dump. He was becoming dead weight, but remained on the club due to his physicality and forechecking.
That changed with the Drury trade. Svechkov and L’Heureux should bring some additional pop to the lineup. Nevertheless, the additional cap space allows the Avs to find additional forechecking help to round out the lineup.
After all, Nichushkin was becoming a $6 million guy playing on the third line. Whereas Kadri is not only the best third-line center in the NHL, he can be a plug-and-play guy in the top six, the power play, and just about any other spot in the lineup.
Make no mistake. This deal was about trimming the fat. And while Colorado didn’t get a first-round pick for Nichuskin, it doesn’t matter. The organization can keep the second-rounder and land a solid prospect with the selection.
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