The Colorado Avalanche have finally answered the age old question. The team is trading winger Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Carrying a cap hit of $6.125 million over the course of several years, ahd the Avalanche having very little cap space to work with, this seemed like a foregone conclusion. The remaining questions were, “where would he be traded” and for what?
Well, we found out both of those answers within minutes. The Avalanche have now acquired a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 fifth-round selection. With that, the Avs will be able to select a player in the 2026 Draft a lot sooner than they were able to prior to this trade.
The return the Avalanche got is pretty phenomenal given that the move is essentially a salary cap dump. With there being so many trades over the past couple of days, it was interesting to kind of try and figure out what the market would be for Nichushkin. A player who is 31-years-old and with availability question marks commanding multiple picks in a trade is outstanding in my opinion. There was no way he would have gotten the Avs a first-round pick simply because of those two factors I just mentioned.
The transition away from Nichushkin will be fun to watch unfold. Parker Kelly might end up moving up to third-line left wing with Nazem Kadri on the second line. Or, perhaps the Avalanche have another move up their sleeve that we just don’t know about yet.
They could easily flip this second-round pick in 2026 for a player to fill into Nichushkin’s former role. The question would be who is available at a lower cost than Nichushkin? Because they wouldn’t make this move with the idea of filling the role with a player near or past that $6.125 million cap hit. That just wouldn’t make sense.
It’s probably about to be an insane next couple of days as we get to the NHL Draft. Stay tuned!
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