Triumphant return: Nichushkin scored and was recognized as the first star of the match, Kuznetsov was traded to Carolina

Nichushkin's winning goal

Last week, two Russians ended their stay in the NHL player assistance program.

But if Evgeny Kuznetsov immediately after that was exiled to the Washington farm club and put up for the waiver draft, then Valery Nichushkin began to purposefully prepare for a return to the main team of Colorado.

At the end of February, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that the striker would need about a week for this, and he was not deceived.

On the night of March 9, Big Val (as he is called in North America) was included in the lineup for a home match with Minnesota.

And he immediately found himself in the second line - with Casey Mittelstadt and Jonathan Drouin.

True, the beginning of this meeting hardly pleased the Russian fans.

Already in the 42nd second, Nathan MacKinnon helped Artturi Lehkonen score and not only reached the mark of 70 assists, but also scored the anniversary, 110th point, increasing the lead over Nikita Kucherov in the scorer race to four.

And he provided his team with an advantage in the score for the next half hour.

Only in the middle of the second period did Kirill Kaprizov, with a miraculous backhand pass, find Brock Faber, who restored parity with an excellent throw into the corner.

Nichushkin at this time continued to get used to the site, and not without success.

Even in the middle of the first period, he put pressure on Kaprizov and forced him to lose the puck during a power play, after which he rode off to a rendezvous with Filip Gustafsson.

However, the Swede survived, and a little later his colleague came to the fore.

Alexander Georgiev also repeatedly corrected the mistakes of his teammates and made 29 saves in 60 minutes, allowing the Avalanche to endure overtime.

Moreover, several times he helped out in seemingly absolutely hopeless situations.

Like at the end of the second period, when three opponents tried to push the puck into the goal at once.

As a result, the winner was determined during an additional five minutes, where Kaprizov openly let his partners down.

Already at the 42nd second, he was sent off for holding his stick and gave Colorado a chance to play on the power play in a four-on-three format.

True, they could not take advantage of this gift for a long time.

MacKinnon, along with Lehkonen, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar, laid siege to the opponent's goal, but there was no way to catch Gustavsson by surprise.

The Swede stood like a wall and coped with both long-range “shots” and Artturi’s attempts to score from the dime.

And less than half a minute before Kaprizov returned to the ice, Bednar took a desperate step and released Nichushkin, essentially recreating their trio with MacKinnon and Rantanen.

And it was she who brought the Avalanche the most important victory.

Valery responded to Mikko's pass, won the fight against two defenders and the goalkeeper, and then sent the puck into the net.

And he was recognized as the first star of the match, ahead of Georgiev and Lehkonen.

He also returned to the fight for a place in the top five Russian scorers of the championship.

With 43 (23 + 20) points, Valery takes seventh place, five points behind Pavel Buchnevich and Evgeni Malkin.

Departure of Kuznetsov

An important turn occurred in the career of another Russian participant in the NHL assistance program.

Hours before the deadline, Kuznetsov was traded to Carolina for a third-round pick in the 2025 draft.

Moreover, Washington agreed not only to release one of its highest paid hockey players, but also to withhold 50% of his salary until the end of the contract.

Thus, both this and next season, Evgeniy will appear on the books of both clubs, and his cap hit (average fee) will be estimated at $3.9 million.

As you can see, this deal was not the most profitable for Washington.

“Stolyichny” not only received far from the most serious compensation, but, in fact, got rid of only half of Kuznetsov’s contract.

Of course, even this may help in attracting new performers in the summer, but it will still slightly constrain the management of the 2018 Stanley Cup winners.

And in general, the decision to withhold half the salary of an athlete whose current agreement expires in a year and a half looks quite unusual.

After all, this practice is usually resorted to in the case of exchanging players whose contract is valid until the end of the current season.

For example, last spring only similar tricks helped the Rangers get stars Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, but the situation with Kuznetsov stands apart.

And it points to the desperate situation of the Capitals, who tried with all their might to get rid of the problematic asset.

At the same time, the center forward himself has already managed not only to visit Carolina’s training center, but also to conduct his first lesson with the team.

And take a photo with other Russian field hockey players of the team - Andrei Svechnikov and Dmitry Orlov, with whom they previously defended the colors of Washington.

And also share your opinion about the new stage of your career.

“I don’t understand much yet - these are emotions and all that... (In Washington. -

RT

) I spent 11 years, my children were born there.

This city holds a big place in my heart.

Unfortunately, I have to leave... on such a note, but such is life.

I don’t regret anything, and I will remember the time I spent there all my life,” Kuznetsov admitted to The Hockey News.

According to Evgeniy, he understands that recently he has not demonstrated the level of hockey that people used to expect from him.

But he feels ready to adapt to the style of the new team and benefit it.

Regardless of whether he needs to play simpler or make more difficult decisions on the ice.

"I'm looking forward to.

I need to get back into hockey, I haven't played for a long time.

Made a lot of mistakes in life and the best way to apologize to people is to make a valuable contribution to the game.

I've never run from the mistakes I've made in the past... I'm learning a lot.

As I said, this is my last opportunity, my last chance.

Now everything is in my hands,” concluded Kuznetsov.

In turn, Carolina also spoke highly of the Russian.

General manager Don Wadell called him a "high-level playmaker" ready to bolster the team's offense and add playoff experience.

And very soon he will have a chance to confirm the words of the functionary.

As it became known, Evgeniy’s debut for the Hurricanes will take place on March 9 in a confrontation with New Jersey.

At the same time, Kuznetsov was far from the only Russian who changed his registration shortly before the NHL deadline.

A couple of days ago, Vladimir Tarasenko was exchanged from Ottawa to Florida, and Nashville parted ways with two domestic hockey players.

Denis Guryanov joined Philadelphia, and Yakov Trenin moved to Colorado.

And along with Nichushkin, he took part in the victory over Minnesota, which took away the rights to 21-year-old striker Dmitry Ovchinnikov from Toronto.

At the same time, Vasily Ponomarev became part of a big deal to invite Jake Guentzel to Carolina, going to Pittsburgh in the company of Michael Bunting and several other assets.

Along with Nashville, San Jose also made two exchanges involving Russians.

So, Nikita Okhotyuk was released to Calgary, and Klim Kostin, whose career in Detroit did not work out, was acquired.

This season, he took to the ice in only 33 meetings and scored four (3 + 1) points.

Although a year ago I shot 21 (11 + 10) for St. Louis.

Perhaps a change of situation will benefit Daniil Miromanov and Mikhail Vorobyov.

The first will try his hand at Calgary, the second at Vegas.