- Avalanche traded Valeri Nichushkin to the Blue Jackets on Thursday
- Colorado got a 2026 second, a 2027 third, and a 2028 fifth-round pick back
- Read below for what the deal means for Colorado’s cap crunch
The Avalanche keep clearing out forwards.
Colorado traded Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, sending the 31-year-old winger to Ohio for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 third-rounder, and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
Columbus rolled out the welcome mat:
Nichushkin put up 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists) in 72 games this season and added four points in 12 playoff games. He still has four years left on the eight-year deal he signed with Colorado in 2022, a contract carrying a $6.125 million cap hit. That made him the team’s fifth-highest-paid forward. In Columbus, he is now the highest-paid forward on the roster.
This is the third forward the Avalanche have moved in two weeks. They sent Jack Drury to Nashville on Wednesday and shipped Ross Colton to the Predators on June 16. Colorado is hunting for cap room with extensions looming for Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen.
The Avalanche laid out the return:
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell talked about what his new winger brings to Columbus.
“Valeri is a big, strong forward who skates exceptionally well, can score goals, win puck battles and doesn’t shy away from playing in the hard areas. He is an accomplished two-way player who competes at a high level and we are very excited to welcome him to the Blue Jackets family.”
Nichushkin won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 and has 357 points in 627 regular-season games since Dallas drafted him 10th overall in 2013.
Columbus wanted a top-six scorer with playoff pedigree. They just bought one for the price of three mid-round picks.
