Colorado Avalanche Winger Out With Upper-Body Injury

Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Nichushkin has been able to get his NHL career back on track since joining the Colorado Avalanche. The 2013 10th overall pick just didn't work well with the Dallas Stars and was never able to blossom into a top-six forward. In his final season with the team, he only had 10 assists in 57 games. However, he then followed that up with a 27-point campaign in 65 games during the 2019-20 season with the Avalanche.

Last season was another good one for the winger, as he scored 10 goals and had 21 points in 55 games. However, his importance to the team is primarily due to his strong defensive play and utilization on the penalty kill. He is a significant loss for the Avalanche because of this.

Here's to hoping Valeri is able to recover quickly, as he is a key two-way forward for them.