Colorado Avalanche 2025-26 Player Grades: Valeri Nichushkin

The 2025-26 season has been over for the Colorado Avalanche for some time, and they are still trying to figure out what went wrong. Being contenders won’t be enough for them going into 2026-27, and there are some questions that must be answered.

As part of this series, we will look back at each player’s performance from the 2025-26 and hand out grades. The subject today can be one of the most frustrating to talk about given his size and talent comparative to the impact he has on a game: Valeri Nichushkin.

Production

Nichushkin has effectively settled into a range when it comes to offensive production: 45-55 points. He landed right in that spot again for the fourth time in five years (he only had 34 points last season but that came in just 43 games), racking up 17 goals and 49 points.

His .68 points per game is his lowest by a healthy margin since the early days with the Avalanche in 2020-21 when he had just 21 points in 55 games. Give he had 21 goals in just 43 games last year, the hope was that he could take the leap forward and hit the 30-goal mark for the first time, but he fell well short.

Intangibles

Nichushkin has the kind of game that should equate to playoff success. He’s big, can skate well, and has the kind of high-end skill that made him a top-10 pick in the NHL Draft. At times, it has translated, and he has been impressive. Other times, he kind of floats and becomes invisible.

Before, that may have been attributed to his off-ice activities. Now? There is no excuse when he disappears. It’s encouraging that he suited up in more than 70 games for the first time since 2015-16 with Dallas, but that should have equated to more production, and it didn’t.

Overall Grade: B-

This grade could be lower, especially after a playoff run that saw him score just twice and add two assists over 12 games. He could have been a difference-maker while the Avalanche struggled with the Vegas Golden Knights, but he was not.

As the Avalanche will likely lean more heavily on depth in 2026-27, they need a bounce back from the big Russian winger. He still has the kind of skill needed to be an effective second-line winger and has all the talent in the world around him. Maybe now that he’s turned a corner with his health, he can regain his scoring touch, too.

An Aberration or a Trend?

The Avalanche have a lot to figure out this offseason, including a game-changing extension for Cale Makar. The Avalanche are going to be leaning on certain players but they need more out of guys like Nichushkin in 2026-27.

The problem is that he’s 31 years old and has had a comprehensive injury history. Him playing in 72 games is encouraging but the drop in production is not. Maybe it’s just a year in which he was a little snake-bitten, but it could be a sign of things to come. The hope is that the big winger can bounce back and be an effective top-six winger again.