Valeri Nichushkin is not under investigation by the NHL regarding an April incident at the Avalanche team hotel in Seattle that prompted a police response, league deputy commissioner Bill Daly told reporters Saturday in Las Vegas before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
During Colorado’s first-round playoff series against the Kraken, a woman was found in Nichushkin’s hotel room who was so intoxicated that a team doctor called for an ambulance to take her to a hospital, according to a Seattle Police Department report.
Nichushkin left Seattle the day of the incident and did not play that night in Game 3 or the remainder of the series, which the Avalanche lost in seven games.
“We know exactly what happened and we think it was handled appropriately (by the team),” Daly said.
Daly said Nichushkin is available to play.
The team has declined to comment for more than a month about the incident, claiming Nichushkin has been absent from the team for personal reasons.
“He was a very important part of our team in the past,” general manager Chris MacFarland said after the season, “and that’s our hope, that he’s going to be a very important part of our team in the future, for sure.”
Nichushkin is one season into an eight-year contract that runs through 2029-30, with an average annual value of $6.125 million. He scored 17 goals and 47 points in 53 games last season, missing stretches due to an off-and-on ankle injury.
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