Valeri Nichushkin's Impact In The Playoffs With The Avalanche

Looking over Nichushkin's playoff impact during his time with the Avalanche and how recent suspension could affect things going forward

Valeri Nichushkin has been an influential player for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2023-24 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has been on a remarkable goal-scoring streak, having scored in seven consecutive games and a total of nine goals so far. But has he always had this goal-scoring prowess? Let's look into his past playoff performances and regular seasons with the Avalanche and see how he has grown as a player with the team and how his goal-scoring has improved each season.

2019-20 Season & Playoffs

This was Nichushkin's first season with the Avalanche after he left the Dallas Stars in free agency. He had a respectable season, finishing with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points, averaging 14:04 time on ice per game. The Avalanche finished second in the Central Division and beat the Arizona Coyotes in the first round (Thank you for your time, Arizona; you might or might not be missed) in a quick five games but eventually lost to the Dallas Stars in an iconic Game 7 overtime loss.

Nichushkins's first playoff appearance with the team wasn’t great; in fifteen games, he scored two goals and one assist for three points while averaging 14:05 time on ice per game—18 shots with an 11.1 shooting percentage.

2020-21 Season & Playoffs

As the “Covid-19” season approached, with only 56 games played that season, Nichushkin played in 55 and performed somewhat similarly to his previous season. He scored ten goals and 11 assists for 21 points with the same ice time as last season. His power-play production was technically worse, as he only had one power-play point: an assist. 

His production in the playoffs was much the same as last season’s run, but his goal-scoring went down this time. The Avalanche played ten games this postseason; they swept the St.Louis Blues in Round 1 but lost in Round 2 to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games, finishing the series 4-2.