Suspended Valeri Nichushkin cleared to practice with Avalanche, remains in player assistance program

DENVER (AP) — Suspended Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin has been cleared to begin practicing, the team said Monday.

Nichushkin, however, remains in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and is ineligible to play in games. His suspension is slated to last until at least mid-November.

His return would bolster a team that’s already thin at forward this season because of injuries. The Avalanche could soon have back Artturi Lehkonen, who was activated from injured reserve Monday. He's recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

Nichushkin was unavailable for a second straight postseason last May because of circumstances away from the ice. The league and the players’ association announced his suspension an hour before the start of the Avalanche’s 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on May 13 during a second-round series Colorado would lose.

The 29-year-old Russian right winger also abruptly left the team in a 2023 first-round playoff series against Seattle for what was described as personal reasons. He missed the final five games of that postseason as the Avalanche lost the series 4-3.

Nichushkin is under contract through the 2029-30 season after signing an eight-year, $49 million contract with the team in 2022. He had a career-best 28 goals last year in 54 regular-season games.

The banged-up Avalanche remain without forward captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Ross Colton (broken foot), Jonathan Drouin (upper body) and Miles Wood, who was placed on injured reserve Monday with an upper body injury.

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