Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin enters NHL/NHLPA assistance program

MONTREAL — Valeri Nichushkin has entered the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program, the league and players association announced in a joint statement Monday. Nichushkin did not play for the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs and was not on the ice Monday morning at Bell Centre.

Avs coach Jared Bednar said he was under the weather before the game in Toronto. This is the second time Nichushkin has left the team in the past eight months. He missed the final five games of a first round playoff series in April against the Seattle Kraken for what the organization deemed personal reasons.

What led to his absence — leaving the team in Seattle that had been in his hotel room — has never been confirmed by the club, but Bednar and the team at media day before training camp began this past fall. Bednar was asked earlier this month about the uncertainty with Nichushkin at the start of the season.

“Uncertainty would be from an outside perspective,” . “I saw Val before I left here for the summer, and he was already doing great after he took care of himself and came back. I felt like Val was going to have a huge summer with training. He was finally through all of the injuries, etc. “I really don’t have any concerns with him.

… We haven’t had to really address anything with him or with (Samuel) Girard coming back from (the) same kind of deal. I feel like both guys are in a really good spot. They’re feeling great mentally and physically, and they’re both playing really well.” Nichushkin is the second Avs player to enter the program during the 2023 24 season.

from the team for a month, and missed nearly six weeks’ worth of games after seeing treatment for severe anxiety and depression that led to alcohol abuse. Nichushkin is in the midst of a career season. He has 22 goals and 42 points in 40 games, on pace to easily set new personal bests in both categories.

Nichushkin got off to a slow start, but has been one of the league’s top scorers since his daughter, Anna, was born in early November. His 21 goals are third in the league since Nov. 8, and he’s been a critical part of the club’s recent surge despite missing other key regulars from the lineup..