According to Russian news outlet R-Sport, The Dallas Stars have agreed to terms with restricted free agent Valeri Nichushkin on a two-year deal. The deal will be officially announced on July 1st. He has spent the last two seasons playing with CSKA Moscow in the KHL.
Seeing Nichushkin come back to the Stars is not a big surprise as a contract dispute seemed to be the main reason he left. Now betting on the Stars getting similar production from him, all slots for Canada, is another story.
Valeri Nichushkin signed a 2-year deal with #DallasStars. Deal will be announced on Jul 1 https://t.co/phckJEjuee
— Семён Галькевич (@galkevich32) June 8, 2018
Valeri Nichushkin Re-Joins the Dallas Stars
Nichushkin was drafted by the Stars 10th overall in the 2013 NHL entry draft. After making the team right out of camp, Nichushkin had a respectable rookie season. He put up 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points in 79 games. Nichushkin was only able to play eight games in his second season due to missing four months after hip surgery. He put up one point in those eight games. In his third season, Nichuskin managed to stay healthy playing 79 games. He scored nine goals and added 20 assists for 29 points. Overall, he has 64 career points in 166 games total in the NHL. Nichushkin has added three points in 16 career Stanley Cup Playoff games
Not being able to come to terms on a new contract, the Stars forward left for the KHL where he signed a two year deal with CSKA Moscow. Nichushkin managed to put up 51 points in 86 games over two seasons in the KHL.
What This Means for the Stars
After missing the playoffs and finishing in the bottom half of the league in terms of goals for, Dallas will certainly welcome Nichushkin back with open arms. The big Russian forward has all the skill in the world to become a big-time goal scorer at the NHL level. He will provide some much-needed depth to a roster who struggled to find any offence outside of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, and defenceman John Klingberg.
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