Avalanche Building Toward Trade Deadline Move
Asked how Colorado moves forward without the two-way winger, goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood didn't sugarcoat it. "I don't know that you do," Blackwood said. "I think there's guys that will fill roles and take positions, but I don't think you necessarily get a new Valeri Nichushkin. I think you just kind of fill gaps and make adjustments for what you do or you don't have."
A Specific Plan Built Around Roster Math
Per Masisak, president and GM Joe Sakic said back in July that the plan is to accumulate cap space throughout the season specifically to have more available at the deadline.
In practice, that likely means Colorado won't carry a full 23-man roster for much of the year, possibly running with as few as 21, 12 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies, rather than filling every available spot.
The payoff, according to PuckPedia's projections cited in the piece, could be real.
If the Avalanche open the season with the 12 forwards currently on one-way NHL deals, they'd be projected to have roughly $6.05 million in cap space by the trade deadline.
Like everything about Valeri Nichushkin’s time with the Colorado Avalanche, how the club moves forward without him is … complicated. https://t.co/7MYemmDefJ
— Denver Post Sports (@DPostSports) September 21, 2026
Masisak noted that number will fluctuate with injuries and call-ups and could end up somewhat lower by late February, but even a reduced version of that total would give Sakic some room to add an impact forward if Colorado's internal options don't fully cover what Nichushkin provided.
Why Nichushkin Is So Hard To Replace In The First Place
Colorado produced 60.33 percent of expected goals at five-on-five with Nichushkin on the ice last season, the second-best mark among forwards with 500-plus minutes, and he ranked second on the team in total penalty-kill time over the past four seasons behind only Logan O'Connor.
Captain Gabe Landeskog called him "a bit of a unicorn" as a player, someone who could dominate a game in all three phases.
Colorado's biggest response so far was signing Jaden Schwartz to a three-year, $9.75 million deal just six days after the Nichushkin trade, and he's been skating alongside Brock Nelson and prospect T.J. Hughes in camp.
BREAKING: Colorado lands Jaden Schwartz, per @frank_seravalli. pic.twitter.com/F4qexlSct1
— PuckEmpire (@puckempire) July 1, 2026
Schwartz was careful not to frame himself as an exact replacement. "It never really crossed my mind," Schwartz said. "It's part of professional sports. There's going to be turnover... I'm just focused on this group and myself, and helping out as much as I can."
On the penalty kill specifically, head coach Jared Bednar pointed to O'Connor, Nelson, and Parker Kelly as the players who'll absorb the bulk of Nichushkin's shorthanded minutes, with Zachary L'Heureux, who handled a big penalty-kill role for Nashville late last season, also in the mix.
