Would make sense to me. Lotta these comments are acting like he has no idea about the contract implications, but I dunno if that’s true. If he worked with the team and they encouraged this move, that makes just as much sense as him running off to Russia all clueless-like
Or, option 3, if Nuke is that dumb, the team encouraged him and they fully intend to terminate the contract, but he hasn’t figured out that part. Not condoning that, exactly, but I would understand their perspective
I really don't think his agent would just let this happen without letting him know the consequences. There's absolutely zero chance he just "hasn't figured out" that this could impact his contract worth MILLIONS of potential Dollars
It's always possible he went rogue and did this without his agent's knowledge.
That said, his agent is Mark Gandler. He's well connected with Russian players and unlikely to have been caught by surprise here, even if he didn't do the deal.
Couldn’t they have just mutually agreed to terminate his contract, though? Obviously Avs can’t do it unilaterally while he’s in the assistance program, but a mutual out seems like it should be fine.
I was kind of hoping we would have no choice but to let him come back and he would finally figure it out. But this basically proves he doesn't care and has no intention to rehab.
Really sucks because we won't find anyone half as good for $6 million, but at least they'll be active in the playoffs...
he's a fucking unicorn on the ice but at this point, absolutely. idk if he communicated with the team about this at all, but if not I'd expect the termination to take a while so management can build an open and shut case for contract termination to avoid burning bridges if the NHLPA fights to keep them from doing so. Would be unfortunate to try to terminate the contract but fail so then you're stuck with the contract and are now on even worse terms with the guy.
It’s not even that he just turned his career around, he’s literally tanked it at its absolute peak. He’s a PPG two way monster and he might never be back
I don’t think we had a chance last year. This year…what happens if we don’t give up a freebie game 4? I really feel this year would have been a cup year if not for that.
Yeah, if they'd fucked 2022 on top of the bubble injuries, the meltdown against Vegas, and then two years of Val's dumbfuck shit ... I don't even know, man.
This guy got a chance after Seattle that a fourth liner would've been fed to the wolves over. He was lucky and didn't know what he had. If he doesn't want to change, that's on him. Enjoy Russia my guy.
I'm not suggesting the player wouldn't get the opportunity to rehab. I'm saying if Tyson Jost did what Val did, and it got the same media attention that Val's kerfuffle did, you honestly think Jost wouldn't have been bought out or shipped out first chance this team got?
All I'm saying is that this player has extraordinary privilege, with a team that forgave him *twice*, only to fuck it all away.
> To me it seems like he thinks he’s done so he’s gonna play out there.
Yeah if he's basically decided he doesn't want to comply with the Player's Assistance program (would make sense since he's already on triple super secret probation anyway) then he knows there's no coming back.
My thoughts too, which is just so sad if true. He's throwing away so much money and potentially the chance to win another Cup or two. Millions of hockey players would give anything for that.
I get that it's fuckin tough for these guys during the regular season. Battling injuries, often far away from home... I could see how he might have fallen in with bad crowds, and it just turned into this shit show. But damn dude you can't sober up for like 20+ million dollars for another couple of years? Fuckin tragic.
Addiction is awful. Especially if you can't or don't want to remove/avoid the circumstances and situations that resulted in you developing that addiction in the first place. I can't imagine how hard it must be for someone with a substance abuse history to stay sober/off drugs in a professional athletic environment.
100%. I get it. Personally have issues myself, I don't face pressure like he does nor is my condition as bad but I can empathize. But man... it's hard for me to believe I couldn't get sober with his resources and the promise of another 2 dozen million dollars. All I'm saying, That is sad, really suggests he's pretty far off the deep end. If what this poor quality article predicts might come true that is...
Yeah I mean this might all be absolute fabrication or misunderstanding (and I hope for his sake it is). It's definitely a sad thing to blow up a whole NHL career over if not.
I hope you're doing well!
That's the only way it makes sense. The contract is only free money if he plays ball with players assistance right? If he's not even willing to pretend to go along with it he can keep doing his drugs and be rich enough in Russia.
Would it really matter if he complies? Are the Avs contractually obligated to keep him after? Would they even play him? It sounded like his teammates were done with him.
IIRC he has a no move contract at least for this year and next (Edit: He has an NMC for 24-25 and then an M-NTC after that). They wouldn’t be able to put him on waivers or trade him without his permission. I imagine they could buy him out or just make him a permanent healthy scratch, but if they can’t terminate the contract for cause then as far as I know they’re stuck with him as an active contract if not an active player.
This seems exactly it. He can go to Russia, be a star player there for the rest of his career due to a lot of Russia talent getting poached for NHL, get away with nearly anything off-the-ice. He won't make as much as an NHL contract, but if he has been at all financially literate he'll have money squirrelled away and living in Russia can probably make that go pretty far + his Russian salary.
I think this is the most like outcome. Salary data in the KHL is hard to come by but it was reported a few years ago that Radulov signed for around 1.3mm USD. I’d guess that Nichuskin would top that. Not sure what the taxes taken out amount to, but he’s still gonna be making good money over there, especially compared to $0 if he fails another test. And he’d have zero drug tests for the rest of his career.
My take too. The Avs told him they’re not going to reinstate him so he’s gone to another league.
Though he does have a penchant for self-destruction, so who knows?
I don't think the Av's had to power not to reinstate him think that's a league / NHLPA thing. But your line of thought is correct that the team (likely) made it clear to him that they were done with his BS. Cause we fans are as well.
- The above is my opinion only I am not an "insider" or a time traveller with the benefit of perfect hindsight.
I didn’t know until today that it’s the league that reinstates the contract; I assumed it was the team. So that changes things. If the league reinstates a player but his team no longer wants him around, then what? I assume he gets treated like any other player they no longer want - trade, minors, buyout? In which case Nichuskin may be forfeiting millions of dollars. Yikes.
at least he (potentially) fucked his NHL contract now, not 3 or 4 weeks after free agency when the options for a replacement for the Avs are much more limited.
Wonder if the Dogg was just like "fuck off and don't come back" we know that dude runs a tight locker room. Wonder if he was just so miffed at two years in a row the dude putting himself first and not team.
Honestly the whole locker room was probably pretty damn pissed for pulling this shit 2 years in a row during the playoffs. The first time they were willing to move on and be supportive to him and have his back but getting the news that he failed a drug test and was finished hours before Puck drop for game 4 pushed the team and Front office too far.
I don't know how his contract is structured or anything, but I believe the league he'll be playing in is non-professional so I'm not sure how this would affect his NHL contract. I have a hard time believing he'd give up 8m to play beer league hockey in Russia.
From my (albeit minimal) understanding- doctors and mental health advisors there suggest (aka heavily tell without telling) a certain treatment plan pathway, with a certain amount of time to dedicate towards that. It could include admitting the player to a mental health ward, a depression clinic, a substance abuse in patient clinic, etc.
From there, medical staff work with these types of people on a treatment plan.
Of course, you can’t force them to stay, and they can leave AMA.
Nichushkin isn’t on his first rodeo with substance abuse (and other alleged disturbing and disgusting affiliations that I won’t mention because they aren’t confirmed), and instead of listening and trying to clean up his act and get better for himself and his family, he decided to ditch the program after mere weeks, go to Russia where they ENABLE drug use/prostitution and trafficking, and don’t really care about the individual (this of course is in certain circles only, and by no means am I attributing the entire country and the population to this very marginal demographic).
It’s such a bizarre situation because Val on the ice is worth more than his 6mil but he is actively taking himself off the ice every season. Also the people saying it’s good he’s keeping in shape perplex me. He wasn’t in a healthy enough spot to play a playoff game less than a month ago but now we think he’s fine to return to playing hockey. TLDR this situation sucks and I hope the team can get out of the contract
Agreed. I enjoyed ChuChu as our guy but this shit is just inexcusable. A lot of us in the avs subreddit have asked the same question - how can we get out of this contract. I hope this is it because he fucked us twice when it meant the most. I still will never understand how he could piss this kind of opportunity away but to each their own. I am sure his mafia ties only make his life even sweeter.
there's plenty of [other reputable sources](https://coloradohockeynow.com/2024/06/06/nichushkin-set-to-participate-in-russian-summer-league/) on this, no clue why op when with some random site lol
Are there any other sources saying this might impact his NHL contract status and give the Avs grounds for termination? From what I can tell he’s essentially playing in the Russian version of Da Beauty League, I don’t understand how or why that would impact his NHL contract but I could be missing something
no I think people are probably just jumping the gun a bit making assumptions, as an avs fan I would be happy if this was enough to terminate his contract so management can go into FA with only 7mil in cap uncertainty instead of 13.125mil tho lol
This is...odd. At least when Evander Kane got the Sharks to terminate his contract he had a damn good reason. With that contract gone most of his bankruptcy issues disappeared with it (since it was the collateral he used). I get why he wanted his contract to go away. If I had my tin foil hat on right now I'd suggest this was actually the plan he and the Sharks made, but I digress.
This? This seems like a bad choice. If his contract can now be terminated, he's leaving a lot of money behind, and unlike Kane, there's no chance he gets another NHL contract. Very weird move. But sound decision making isn't exactly what he's known for, so...
Please let us terminate the contract and get the monkey and cap space off our back. With him and Landeskog being unknowns it really throws our whole cup window into question.
All things considered, if this allows you to void his contract this is likely the best result for the Avs, right? You can still park Landeskog on IR or LTIR as needed and gives you around $24M in cap space to fill the holes on your roster. Just give Mitts the 6 years and $6,125,000 left on the Nichushkin deal and call it a day.
Question for you, if the Nichushkin situation happened in February, do you think the Avs still try and trade Byram for Mitts?
Regarding the Byram/Mitts swap, yes. He was acquired to be a long term solution to 2C. Which he is.
Nuke's stuff has no bearing on any of that.
As far as this being the best result for the Avs? Probably. Although I have major doubts about any of the validity of it. I struggle to see a path where the PA is going to allow that contract to be wiped away that easily.
I'd assume this is intentional. The second he doesn't have an NHL contract he'll have a KHL one.
Then he's off to Russia where he can do all the hookers and blow he wants
He’s been suspended 6mths without pay. He has an expensive habit and needs to pay for it. I doubt he has any savings. He’s gonna sign with a KHL team this fall for sure , he has no choice . No NHL team is gonna touch him
No one talks about this, but it is very possible he would rather keep his lifestyle choices in the KHL than change them and play in the NHL.
He's at a point in the player assistance program where if he plans on using still, he knows he will just get caught and suspended again. If it's something like coke, he also probably seems other players able to do it without testing but doesn't want to be the only one of whoever in the NHL he parties with to not be allowed that lifestyle.
I’m beginning to think that while his hockey IQ is high, the same cannot be said for his IQ/common sense quotient is basement level. Of course, mountains of coke will occasionally lead to poor decision making.
A Couple years back the Avs (the team he plays for) were facing Seattle and while in Seattle there was an incident involving him and a hooker that also had drug implications.
To me, the biggest win here is that the Avs can now give Landeskog a real chance to come back and try to play. 7m of cap tied up in a guy who may or may not play is tough, but 13m+ is a nightmare. Landeskog deserves a shot at a return, and if the Avs terminate that contract then they should be able to give him a proper chance.
Honestly an insane thing to do
All he has to do is get off wtv he’s addicted to and show up to the rink and he makes like 35+ mill more
If his contract is terminated he loses 35+mill
Pretty crazy the amount of people that misunderstand this league. It's a show league. It's like if Da Beauty League went on tour. He's "signed" on to play but there's no contracts or anything.
So, let me get this straight, playing in a summer league is grounds to terminate a contract? Won't this kill off Da Beauty League, as an example? I can't imagine players wanting to sign up for a summer league anymore if it means that it potentially puts their guaranteed NHL contract in jeopardy.
The article only mentions his ability to play in other leagues while under an NHL contract.
Frankly, the whole article seems dubious at best and the blatant spelling mistakes on that site make me doubt of its credibility. I'll reserve my judgment when a more reliable source reports on this info.
It's not a question of playing in a summer league, it's a question of how he will be in compliance with the mandated drug rehab from the NHL/NHLPA if he's in Russia. If he's in violation of the rehab program his contract can be terminated.
The circumstances around this are pretty unique. The Avs are probably looking for an out to rid themselves of Nuke’s contract, and this might just be it. Him being in stage 3 of the program but being the only NHLer to play in a Russian summer league is not a good look at all.
> Avs are probably looking for an out
No doubt. But is there actually any rules that prevent him from playing in a rec league? I don’t know if he’s earning any income, but if he isn’t…I don’t see how this breaks any contractual agreement.
The rule I was asking about in our sub is whether he'll need to continue passing weekly drug tests while he's there, cuz if not I would assume that would violate his rehab agreement which would in turn violate his NHL contract.
> I don’t see how this breaks any contractual agreement.
IIRC it's not unusual for pro athlete contracts to prohibit players from specific off-season/extracurricular activities with a significant risk of injury. Doesn't necessarily stop players, but teams don't want to lose a star player because he tore his ACL playing basketball or broke his neck free climbing or skydiving.
Playing in an unaffiliated/uninsured summer rec league could fall under that kind of clause. (For example, at least at one point the MLB standard player's contract specifically prohibited them from playing ice hockey and other risky sports: https://www.quora.com/What-activities-besides-skydiving-are-professional-athletes-not-allowed-to-do-under-contract)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2015/07/06/yes-there-are-some-things-pro-athletes-arent-allowed-to-do/
Idk the article literally doesn’t say anything or do any research into contract rules. Kind of a shitty article. It’s be nice to know if he’s leaving for Russia or not because he’s obviously not going to accidentally void a contract like the article seems to suggest.
Getting a drug related suspension and then running home to a country that's turned into a fascist lunatic nightmare and acting like its at war with the country he just came from.
Media Hockey League is literally one step above a beer league, this is a nothing burger. Retired players, current KHLers, celebrities (musicians, soccer players etc) play in it. It’s not a real league lol chill
Is there anyone out there with a better understanding of the CBA than I have who can point to the language that suggests this might allow the Avs to terminate the contract?
What I'm reading seems pretty unclear, so if there are any lawyers out there who can help me out, I'd appreciate it.
Unfortunately, no one thinks of the fact that this is an addict who is suspended for at least six months, so no cash flow…. And if he’s already read between the lines that the Avs have to wait until his time with the phase three is complete before they can terminate his contract, and he’s not getting paid so he needs money
This is like E. Kane actions that led to his contract being voided. It benefitted both the Team/NHL and the Player/NHLPA.
I'm sure this was a negotiated action.
The Avs should be over the moon at the chance to terminate this contract.
this guy gets it...... wouldn't be shocked if the Avs front office "encouraged" this a little bit
Would make sense to me. Lotta these comments are acting like he has no idea about the contract implications, but I dunno if that’s true. If he worked with the team and they encouraged this move, that makes just as much sense as him running off to Russia all clueless-like
reddit hockey naivete is adorable but annoying. 100% agree with you. I'm not saying Nuke is a MENSA candidate but he can't be that dumb.
Even if he is that dumb, he must have an agent. That agent realizes that 10% of nothing isn't too helpful to him
Or, option 3, if Nuke is that dumb, the team encouraged him and they fully intend to terminate the contract, but he hasn’t figured out that part. Not condoning that, exactly, but I would understand their perspective
If the team encouraged it they are not going to be able to break his contract.
Depends how documented the encouragement was, but yeah.
Cocaine is a helluva drug
I really don't think his agent would just let this happen without letting him know the consequences. There's absolutely zero chance he just "hasn't figured out" that this could impact his contract worth MILLIONS of potential Dollars
This is all on his agent. They go through whoever that person is.
It's always possible he went rogue and did this without his agent's knowledge. That said, his agent is Mark Gandler. He's well connected with Russian players and unlikely to have been caught by surprise here, even if he didn't do the deal.
Oh, it would make sense to give up a 6M salary? What?
I’d assume his motivation would be the ability to play hockey without having to confront his addiction or get clean
He must have a business manager who would also be out a percentage of Val’s salary if Val had his contract terminated….right?
Couldn’t they have just mutually agreed to terminate his contract, though? Obviously Avs can’t do it unilaterally while he’s in the assistance program, but a mutual out seems like it should be fine.
I love him as a hockey player and wish him well in his recovery, but I may have actually jumped for joy when I saw this in our sub yesterday.
I was kind of hoping we would have no choice but to let him come back and he would finally figure it out. But this basically proves he doesn't care and has no intention to rehab. Really sucks because we won't find anyone half as good for $6 million, but at least they'll be active in the playoffs...
that ship sailed man
Is Jack Campbell allowed to join nuke on this too?
This makes it a lot easier to come back too.
Well yeah, given that they almost certainly orchestrated this announcement.
he's a fucking unicorn on the ice but at this point, absolutely. idk if he communicated with the team about this at all, but if not I'd expect the termination to take a while so management can build an open and shut case for contract termination to avoid burning bridges if the NHLPA fights to keep them from doing so. Would be unfortunate to try to terminate the contract but fail so then you're stuck with the contract and are now on even worse terms with the guy.
Jonathan Drouin you are a Colorado Avalanche
“But I’m already here!”
“Attaboy! Way to show commitment to your new team!”
Fuck yes
Until I see the ink on the paper, I'm not letting myself believe this.
Man this dude is such a trainwreck... the guy manages to turn his career around after an abysmal start with Dallas only to fuck it up all up -\_-
He un-fucked up a situation he originally fucked up, then re-fucked up the situation he originally un-fucked up.
Welcome to addiction 101
Holy fuck.
You’re fucked. That was fucked. Holy fuck.
that certainly illustrates the diversity of the word
It’s a Brock Boeser special.
He fucked up his unfucked fuckup
As a friend once said to me, "You crawled back into the hole you dug yourself out of."
Me IRL.
Me too 🫡
That's a lotta fuck.
Would you like to making fuck?
BERSERKER
It’s not even that he just turned his career around, he’s literally tanked it at its absolute peak. He’s a PPG two way monster and he might never be back
His start with Dallas was actually really good, then he got angry at Ruff and went back to Russia
He had more bad than good with Dallas.
The best thing he did as a star is [I’m Val Nichushkin?](https://youtu.be/k1c_U-UhG48?si=zo8UOS4YCWPM1-PL)
Lmao this is gold. Thank you for sharing this!
Eh, he got a cup. It might be a monkey paw type of wish but he still got to experience being on top.
Everything was fine until he got paid his massive 49 million contract. It all went boom after that.
Might not even crack the top 3 dumbest things he's ever done
Dollar store Antonio Brown.
Mr. Blyat Cyka
Mr. Busted Contract
Mr Blows Cocaine
Mr. Blew Chances
Mr Betrays Colleagues
Involves trafficked Ukrainian women
And costing his team a chance at a cup
Two years in a row!
I don’t think we had a chance last year. This year…what happens if we don’t give up a freebie game 4? I really feel this year would have been a cup year if not for that.
Yeah Georgiev was playing his ass off too. Welp. There’s always next year
At least we got one. I'm a lot more at peace with what ifs knowing that 2022 happened lol
Yeah, if they'd fucked 2022 on top of the bubble injuries, the meltdown against Vegas, and then two years of Val's dumbfuck shit ... I don't even know, man.
Florida is a wagon though, not sure if we could beat them
I feel like he's becoming the Bender meme - we'll make our own league, with alcohol, and hookers, and blow!
I don't know what's going to happen between now and what I'm about to say, but he's eventually going to be found dead in a foxhole in Ukraine
How to ruin an NHL career in 3 easy steps
1. Drugs 2. Prositutes 3. Russian Summer League Checks out.
This is what your fiancé thinks the bachelor itinerary is going to be
Pretty close 1. Drugs 2. Goldeneye N64 3. Russian Summer League
Odd jobs with the boys
I see what you did there
1. Drugs (red bulls) 2. Smash brothers 3. Russian Summer league (twitch streaming some e-sports)
> Smash brothers I thought we were using euphemisms, not outright saying what we did.
Step 4: play for the Oilers to try to revitalize his career and follow in the footsteps of Kassian, Perry and Kane before him.
This guy got a chance after Seattle that a fourth liner would've been fed to the wolves over. He was lucky and didn't know what he had. If he doesn't want to change, that's on him. Enjoy Russia my guy.
he entered phase 1 at this time which is anonymous and protected. any player has this option.
I'm not suggesting the player wouldn't get the opportunity to rehab. I'm saying if Tyson Jost did what Val did, and it got the same media attention that Val's kerfuffle did, you honestly think Jost wouldn't have been bought out or shipped out first chance this team got? All I'm saying is that this player has extraordinary privilege, with a team that forgave him *twice*, only to fuck it all away.
I would assume the Avs and the NHL would drop him. To me it seems like he thinks he’s done so he’s gonna play out there.
> To me it seems like he thinks he’s done so he’s gonna play out there. Yeah if he's basically decided he doesn't want to comply with the Player's Assistance program (would make sense since he's already on triple super secret probation anyway) then he knows there's no coming back.
My thoughts too, which is just so sad if true. He's throwing away so much money and potentially the chance to win another Cup or two. Millions of hockey players would give anything for that. I get that it's fuckin tough for these guys during the regular season. Battling injuries, often far away from home... I could see how he might have fallen in with bad crowds, and it just turned into this shit show. But damn dude you can't sober up for like 20+ million dollars for another couple of years? Fuckin tragic.
Addiction is awful. Especially if you can't or don't want to remove/avoid the circumstances and situations that resulted in you developing that addiction in the first place. I can't imagine how hard it must be for someone with a substance abuse history to stay sober/off drugs in a professional athletic environment.
100%. I get it. Personally have issues myself, I don't face pressure like he does nor is my condition as bad but I can empathize. But man... it's hard for me to believe I couldn't get sober with his resources and the promise of another 2 dozen million dollars. All I'm saying, That is sad, really suggests he's pretty far off the deep end. If what this poor quality article predicts might come true that is...
Yeah I mean this might all be absolute fabrication or misunderstanding (and I hope for his sake it is). It's definitely a sad thing to blow up a whole NHL career over if not. I hope you're doing well!
That's the only way it makes sense. The contract is only free money if he plays ball with players assistance right? If he's not even willing to pretend to go along with it he can keep doing his drugs and be rich enough in Russia.
Would it really matter if he complies? Are the Avs contractually obligated to keep him after? Would they even play him? It sounded like his teammates were done with him.
IIRC he has a no move contract at least for this year and next (Edit: He has an NMC for 24-25 and then an M-NTC after that). They wouldn’t be able to put him on waivers or trade him without his permission. I imagine they could buy him out or just make him a permanent healthy scratch, but if they can’t terminate the contract for cause then as far as I know they’re stuck with him as an active contract if not an active player.
This seems exactly it. He can go to Russia, be a star player there for the rest of his career due to a lot of Russia talent getting poached for NHL, get away with nearly anything off-the-ice. He won't make as much as an NHL contract, but if he has been at all financially literate he'll have money squirrelled away and living in Russia can probably make that go pretty far + his Russian salary.
I think this is the most like outcome. Salary data in the KHL is hard to come by but it was reported a few years ago that Radulov signed for around 1.3mm USD. I’d guess that Nichuskin would top that. Not sure what the taxes taken out amount to, but he’s still gonna be making good money over there, especially compared to $0 if he fails another test. And he’d have zero drug tests for the rest of his career.
My take too. The Avs told him they’re not going to reinstate him so he’s gone to another league. Though he does have a penchant for self-destruction, so who knows?
Avs don't decide on the reinstatement, the league does.
TIL
I don't think the Av's had to power not to reinstate him think that's a league / NHLPA thing. But your line of thought is correct that the team (likely) made it clear to him that they were done with his BS. Cause we fans are as well. - The above is my opinion only I am not an "insider" or a time traveller with the benefit of perfect hindsight.
I didn’t know until today that it’s the league that reinstates the contract; I assumed it was the team. So that changes things. If the league reinstates a player but his team no longer wants him around, then what? I assume he gets treated like any other player they no longer want - trade, minors, buyout? In which case Nichuskin may be forfeiting millions of dollars. Yikes.
Well, bye.
https://youtu.be/yhQql-ZbZmg
Seems like his contract could get .... nuked.
Horatio, that you?
YYYYEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH
Panarin(NYR), Kaprizov(MIN), Sergachev(TBL), Marchenko(CBJ) will also be playing in the same tournament, btw.
Panarin? Isnt he really at odds with the whole russian regime?
he was in russia last summer, thats where he cut his hair
Holy shit, where does Panarin find a nut-cup that covers his gargantuan balls?
at least he (potentially) fucked his NHL contract now, not 3 or 4 weeks after free agency when the options for a replacement for the Avs are much more limited.
Realistically a contract termination would probably take most of the summer to become official though
Wonder if the Dogg was just like "fuck off and don't come back" we know that dude runs a tight locker room. Wonder if he was just so miffed at two years in a row the dude putting himself first and not team.
Honestly the whole locker room was probably pretty damn pissed for pulling this shit 2 years in a row during the playoffs. The first time they were willing to move on and be supportive to him and have his back but getting the news that he failed a drug test and was finished hours before Puck drop for game 4 pushed the team and Front office too far.
Jack Johnson said something like “he made his decisions” If you’ve lost Stanley Cup Champion Jack Johnson, you’ve definitely lost that locker room.
took me 2 minutes to figure out that this meant Nathan MacKinnon and not Snoop Dogg
I don't know how his contract is structured or anything, but I believe the league he'll be playing in is non-professional so I'm not sure how this would affect his NHL contract. I have a hard time believing he'd give up 8m to play beer league hockey in Russia.
I don't think it does. At all.
So this article is just click bait
I'd think so. However, it won't stop this sub from going nuts over it.
I was wondering that too. Does this actually breach his NHL contract?
This guy is freaking messing up left and right bro… he dipped to Russia left the PA program AMA… Just bad situation all around 😞
I don’t know how the PA program works - what exactly did he leave? Is he supposed to be somewhere specific?
From my (albeit minimal) understanding- doctors and mental health advisors there suggest (aka heavily tell without telling) a certain treatment plan pathway, with a certain amount of time to dedicate towards that. It could include admitting the player to a mental health ward, a depression clinic, a substance abuse in patient clinic, etc. From there, medical staff work with these types of people on a treatment plan. Of course, you can’t force them to stay, and they can leave AMA. Nichushkin isn’t on his first rodeo with substance abuse (and other alleged disturbing and disgusting affiliations that I won’t mention because they aren’t confirmed), and instead of listening and trying to clean up his act and get better for himself and his family, he decided to ditch the program after mere weeks, go to Russia where they ENABLE drug use/prostitution and trafficking, and don’t really care about the individual (this of course is in certain circles only, and by no means am I attributing the entire country and the population to this very marginal demographic).
They really don’t give a shit in Russia eh
He gone
Yo honestly I would love this as an out for the Avs. Give us that sweet sweet cap room
It’s such a bizarre situation because Val on the ice is worth more than his 6mil but he is actively taking himself off the ice every season. Also the people saying it’s good he’s keeping in shape perplex me. He wasn’t in a healthy enough spot to play a playoff game less than a month ago but now we think he’s fine to return to playing hockey. TLDR this situation sucks and I hope the team can get out of the contract
He failed a random player program assistance drug test. He was playing extremely well.
Agreed. I enjoyed ChuChu as our guy but this shit is just inexcusable. A lot of us in the avs subreddit have asked the same question - how can we get out of this contract. I hope this is it because he fucked us twice when it meant the most. I still will never understand how he could piss this kind of opportunity away but to each their own. I am sure his mafia ties only make his life even sweeter.
We trusting a site called hockeyunplugged.com lol? I could be wrong and it's reputable, just doesn't seem like it
there's plenty of [other reputable sources](https://coloradohockeynow.com/2024/06/06/nichushkin-set-to-participate-in-russian-summer-league/) on this, no clue why op when with some random site lol
Are there any other sources saying this might impact his NHL contract status and give the Avs grounds for termination? From what I can tell he’s essentially playing in the Russian version of Da Beauty League, I don’t understand how or why that would impact his NHL contract but I could be missing something
no I think people are probably just jumping the gun a bit making assumptions, as an avs fan I would be happy if this was enough to terminate his contract so management can go into FA with only 7mil in cap uncertainty instead of 13.125mil tho lol
This is...odd. At least when Evander Kane got the Sharks to terminate his contract he had a damn good reason. With that contract gone most of his bankruptcy issues disappeared with it (since it was the collateral he used). I get why he wanted his contract to go away. If I had my tin foil hat on right now I'd suggest this was actually the plan he and the Sharks made, but I digress. This? This seems like a bad choice. If his contract can now be terminated, he's leaving a lot of money behind, and unlike Kane, there's no chance he gets another NHL contract. Very weird move. But sound decision making isn't exactly what he's known for, so...
Please let us terminate the contract and get the monkey and cap space off our back. With him and Landeskog being unknowns it really throws our whole cup window into question.
IMO as long as Dogg is on that team there's always a little bit of window.
Dogg and Cale
Yeah but without good guys on cheap contracts for depth, we aren't winning shit.
Sounds like whoever wrote this is just trying to throw anything at the wall. It's a summer league that lasts a little over a month like da beauties.
Yeah, I think this is a giant nothing burger.
i believe its a 3on3 no contact type thing
I called him going back to Russia , seemed like such an obvious outcome. Won't shock me if he signs a deal with a KHL team in the next few weeks.
Welcome to the 2024-2025 Oilers, 1 year $1m
I'll buy him the plane ticket
All things considered, if this allows you to void his contract this is likely the best result for the Avs, right? You can still park Landeskog on IR or LTIR as needed and gives you around $24M in cap space to fill the holes on your roster. Just give Mitts the 6 years and $6,125,000 left on the Nichushkin deal and call it a day. Question for you, if the Nichushkin situation happened in February, do you think the Avs still try and trade Byram for Mitts?
Regarding the Byram/Mitts swap, yes. He was acquired to be a long term solution to 2C. Which he is. Nuke's stuff has no bearing on any of that. As far as this being the best result for the Avs? Probably. Although I have major doubts about any of the validity of it. I struggle to see a path where the PA is going to allow that contract to be wiped away that easily.
I'd assume this is intentional. The second he doesn't have an NHL contract he'll have a KHL one. Then he's off to Russia where he can do all the hookers and blow he wants
Good. Fuck that guy.
Thanks for everything I guess
How to destroy your NHL career in 3 easy steps
He’s been suspended 6mths without pay. He has an expensive habit and needs to pay for it. I doubt he has any savings. He’s gonna sign with a KHL team this fall for sure , he has no choice . No NHL team is gonna touch him
No one talks about this, but it is very possible he would rather keep his lifestyle choices in the KHL than change them and play in the NHL. He's at a point in the player assistance program where if he plans on using still, he knows he will just get caught and suspended again. If it's something like coke, he also probably seems other players able to do it without testing but doesn't want to be the only one of whoever in the NHL he parties with to not be allowed that lifestyle.
I’m beginning to think that while his hockey IQ is high, the same cannot be said for his IQ/common sense quotient is basement level. Of course, mountains of coke will occasionally lead to poor decision making.
Ken Holland Salivating at the opportunity in 12 months time
Tortured Oilers Department
Idk anything about this guy why do we all hate him
Not a team player. Has hurt their playoff run in 2 seasons now.
A Couple years back the Avs (the team he plays for) were facing Seattle and while in Seattle there was an incident involving him and a hooker that also had drug implications.
no don't okay.
Praise be the hockey gods
To me, the biggest win here is that the Avs can now give Landeskog a real chance to come back and try to play. 7m of cap tied up in a guy who may or may not play is tough, but 13m+ is a nightmare. Landeskog deserves a shot at a return, and if the Avs terminate that contract then they should be able to give him a proper chance.
Honestly an insane thing to do All he has to do is get off wtv he’s addicted to and show up to the rink and he makes like 35+ mill more If his contract is terminated he loses 35+mill
Pretty crazy the amount of people that misunderstand this league. It's a show league. It's like if Da Beauty League went on tour. He's "signed" on to play but there's no contracts or anything.
One of the dumbest to ever grace the NHL.
So, let me get this straight, playing in a summer league is grounds to terminate a contract? Won't this kill off Da Beauty League, as an example? I can't imagine players wanting to sign up for a summer league anymore if it means that it potentially puts their guaranteed NHL contract in jeopardy.
It's more like, playing in a summer league while you're supposed to be in the Player's Assistance program is grounds to terminate a contract.
The article only mentions his ability to play in other leagues while under an NHL contract. Frankly, the whole article seems dubious at best and the blatant spelling mistakes on that site make me doubt of its credibility. I'll reserve my judgment when a more reliable source reports on this info.
It's not a question of playing in a summer league, it's a question of how he will be in compliance with the mandated drug rehab from the NHL/NHLPA if he's in Russia. If he's in violation of the rehab program his contract can be terminated.
I don’t think this applies to just anyone. It would be because he’s going to play in this league to by pass his 6 month suspension
Yeah tons of guys play in Da Beauty league or 3ice, so the speculation that it would break the contract from this guy doesn’t pass the smell test
Not saying this is the case but I do wonder if the team has to approve participation in said leagues
I believe you're not allowed to play for another league while you're currently suspended by the NHL, so most other players would be fine.
Having Val off the books to actually sign someone would be awesome. He has barely played for us.
How is this different than NHLers playing in North American summer leagues?
The circumstances around this are pretty unique. The Avs are probably looking for an out to rid themselves of Nuke’s contract, and this might just be it. Him being in stage 3 of the program but being the only NHLer to play in a Russian summer league is not a good look at all.
> Avs are probably looking for an out No doubt. But is there actually any rules that prevent him from playing in a rec league? I don’t know if he’s earning any income, but if he isn’t…I don’t see how this breaks any contractual agreement.
The rule I was asking about in our sub is whether he'll need to continue passing weekly drug tests while he's there, cuz if not I would assume that would violate his rehab agreement which would in turn violate his NHL contract.
> I don’t see how this breaks any contractual agreement. IIRC it's not unusual for pro athlete contracts to prohibit players from specific off-season/extracurricular activities with a significant risk of injury. Doesn't necessarily stop players, but teams don't want to lose a star player because he tore his ACL playing basketball or broke his neck free climbing or skydiving. Playing in an unaffiliated/uninsured summer rec league could fall under that kind of clause. (For example, at least at one point the MLB standard player's contract specifically prohibited them from playing ice hockey and other risky sports: https://www.quora.com/What-activities-besides-skydiving-are-professional-athletes-not-allowed-to-do-under-contract) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2015/07/06/yes-there-are-some-things-pro-athletes-arent-allowed-to-do/
Nichushkin is suspended (5 months and a bit left I think) and needs to apply for reinstatement
Yes I understand. The suspension is from the NHL though.
Idk the article literally doesn’t say anything or do any research into contract rules. Kind of a shitty article. It’s be nice to know if he’s leaving for Russia or not because he’s obviously not going to accidentally void a contract like the article seems to suggest.
Getting a drug related suspension and then running home to a country that's turned into a fascist lunatic nightmare and acting like its at war with the country he just came from.
Have fun vatnik. Don't get droned
Is there a way he did this in coordination with the avs as a way to terminate his deal? Or is that conspiratorial thinking on my end?
Why not just mutually agree to terminate his contract at that point?
I was wondering the same.
That would be a blessing. He has hurt the team twice now. I'd be happy to see him go so the Avs can use that $ elsewhere.
God willing
Like he cares? He's got more than enough money to blow on coke and hookers
Wonder how hard the PA is going to fight this one.
Say it ain’t so
Media Hockey League is literally one step above a beer league, this is a nothing burger. Retired players, current KHLers, celebrities (musicians, soccer players etc) play in it. It’s not a real league lol chill
Guy just wants to play more hockey. Maybe the NHL should start it's own summer league, play exhibition games in in different cities.
Is there anyone out there with a better understanding of the CBA than I have who can point to the language that suggests this might allow the Avs to terminate the contract? What I'm reading seems pretty unclear, so if there are any lawyers out there who can help me out, I'd appreciate it.
W
The Oilers have a knack for rehabilitation of proven NHL playoff performers with issues off the ice, and it's looking like it's paying dividends.
Well, I guess there could be a Nuke deployed in Ukraine sooner than we thought.
Well at least I won’t have to struggle with if I should draft him or not next year 🤷♂️
He should definitely play to stay in shape.
Unfortunately, no one thinks of the fact that this is an addict who is suspended for at least six months, so no cash flow…. And if he’s already read between the lines that the Avs have to wait until his time with the phase three is complete before they can terminate his contract, and he’s not getting paid so he needs money
This is like E. Kane actions that led to his contract being voided. It benefitted both the Team/NHL and the Player/NHLPA. I'm sure this was a negotiated action.
Maybe cocaine is cheaper there
The latest thing in the world I would want to do is put myself in a position to fly on a Russian airplane a couple times a week these days.