Dallas Stars: Loss of Valeri Nichushkin to KHL Makes Sense

The Dallas Stars lost their 2013 first round pick to the KHL on Tuesday morning, and it seemed pretty abrupt when it happened. But when you look at the causes, it’s easy to see why the transaction occurred.

The Dallas Stars and forward Valeri Nichushkin parted ways this week after spending the offseason debating a new contract. This news may come as a shock to some as General Manager Jim Nill was repeatedly saying they were negotiating, indicating that an agreement could be around the corner.

However, that isn’t the case. The Dallas Stars no longer have 2013’s 10th overall pick as he has signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. This was a power move by the young forward and is something that a lot of teams in the league fear when it comes to young Russian players.

Still, No. 43’s departure won’t have as a big of an impact as he thought it would.

Point Production

Playing in 166 regular season NHL games for the Stars since 2013, Nichushkin only totaled 64 points (23G, 41A). That’s not at all what was expected of the forward Jaromir Jagr predicted to be the best player in the world one day.

From an untimely hip injury to his lack of production on the ice, Nichushkin began to become frustrated. He wasn’t getting the ice time that he thought he deserved and he seemed unable to cope with the fact he wasn’t the best player on the ice anymore in any regard.

When it comes to the NHL, forwards are expected to do a lot, but producing offense is by far the greatest of those expectations and Nichushkin failed in that regard.

Defensive Woes

Unfortunate hip injury aside, Valeri Nichuskin is a one zone kind of player. He wants to have possession of the puck in the offensive zone and everything else is background noise.

That mentality isn’t okay to have as a forward in the league because it’s just not practical in today’s NHL. Nichushkin was also always slow to get back in the defensive zone after something didn’t go right in the offensive side of things and that’s an advantage to the opposition.

His lack of willingness to work on his rather non-existent defensive game was also a warning sign. When it comes down to it, Nichushkin was a defensive liability when he was on the ice and his offensive talents weren’t able to compensate for that.

Moving Forward

Still, it’s unfortunate that the young forward with a lot of potential didn’t take advantage of the learning opportunities he had. The Dallas Stars are a great organization that many would argue are one of the brightest in the league. To leave that because of an ego and overall feeling of unearned entitlement to ice time is a shame, but the Dallas Stars will move forward regardless.

While his time in the NHL was short-lived and definitely didn’t go as planned, Nichushkin will be missed on the Stars. The organization and its fans certainly wish him the best in his return to Russia, but can’t help but have a bitter taste in their mouths.