Jared Bednar confirms the exciting November return of Valeri Nichuskin

November is set to be a busy month for the Colorado Avalanche, as they have 13 more games to play. They started out the month with a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators—a game that was simply closer than the score indicates.

Well, Avs fans, there is a date that you can circle on your calendar. November 15 will mark the official return of one of the team’s biggest star players, who has been out for six months. That’s right: Valeri Nichushkin will make his return against the Washington Capitals. Until then, the team has five more games to play. They’ll start out this final stretch with the Seattle Kraken tomorrow night.

Obviously, the Avalanche could have used Nichushkin much sooner, but given his suspension, that simply just was not in the cards. They’ve dealt with an endless amount of injuries this year. When someone returned to the ice, another player went down with injury.

I’d imagine that, since Nichushkin is back practicing with the team, he’s coach Jared Bednar will have a very good idea of where Nichushkin will play as he gets reacclimated to game shape. Bednar is no stranger to trying different line combinations out. Heck, just the other night, he had Oliver Kylington play forward, and on the team’s official Twitter/X account, the team had a lineup that included Cale Makar listed as part of the second D pairing. While Makar typically plays wherever/whenever, it was interesting to me to see him specifically placed on that part of the depth chart.

I know that trusting someone who has struggled in the past to keep his nose clean can be difficult, and I know that Nichushkin has a lot to prove off the ice. I hope that Nichushkin finds his way back to being the dominant player he was last year and years prior. The team appears to be comfortable sticking by his side as he goes through the struggles he’s dealing with.

Now it is up to him to prove that he can remain on the ice and be a productive wing alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin (when he returns from injury).