Stars' Nill: Nichushkin will probably be protected from expansion draft

Valeri Nichushkin appears to remain in the Dallas Stars' long-terms plans.

Speaking on 630 CHED in Edmonton on Tuesday, general manager Jim Nill disclosed he'll likely protect Nichushkin from this summer's expansion draft, even though the forward is currently playing for CSKA Moscow in the KHL.

"We're planning on him coming back, I don't know if it's going to be one year or two years," Nill told Bob Stauffer on "Oilers Now." "He's probably a player we're going to protect. He's only 21 years old, he's got a lot of upside and a lot of value."

As a reminder, teams can protect up to seven forwards from being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, and protecting Nichushkin could expose a player like Cody Eakin or Antoine Roussel, assuming Brett Ritchie and Radek Faksa are also protected.

Nichushkin recorded 11 goals and 13 assists in 36 KHL games this season. He's scored 23 goals and added 41 assists in 166 games for the Stars after being drafted 10th overall in 2013.

He left for CSKA Moscow after not signing a new deal with the Stars as a restricted free agent and amid reports he was not getting along with Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff, a notion the bench boss has since refuted.