Valeri Nichushkin wants to move forward from his absence in the postseason last April. The Avalanche’s star winger left the team for personal reasons before Game 3 in Seattle and missed the rest of the series. It later came to light that Nichushkin was involved in an incident at the team hotel which involved an intoxicated woman.

“It was family reasons,” Nichushkin said on Thursday, speaking to reporters for the first time since leaving the team. “It’s nothing really interesting. I think we should close it. It’s a new season right now and we have to focus on that.”

Nichushkin arrived back in Denver last week and took part in a couple of captains’ skates before training camp began. In Thursday’s opening day of on-ice camp, he skated on a line with newcomer Ryan Johansen at center and Artturi Lehkonen on the other wing.

He also got a chance to speak with his teammates upon arrival to clear up anything regarding his personal absence.

“My teammates supported me from Seattle there was no problem with them,” Nichushkin said. “I wanted to say thank you again [to them] for supporting me.”

The team has made it clear that they’d like to move on as well. Nichushkin is in the second year of an eight-year deal that he signed following the successful Stanley Cup championship run in 2022.

“I’ve talked to him multiple times,” head coach Jared Bednar said on Wednesday. “I saw him early in the offseason. We’ve talked a little bit more here recently. I have a lot of faith in Val and who he is as a player and as a person.”

Superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon skated on a line with Mikko Rantanen and Jonathan Drouin in camp. But he has no ill will towards Nichushkin, who is entering his fifth season with the Avs.

“With open arms,” MacKinnon said when asked how the team welcomed back their teammate. “We love Val and I think it’s more than faith. I think we just know he’s gonna be here for us and he’s such an amazing player. I’ve said it many times. I thought he was our best player in the finals against Tampa. He was he was such a beast, all over the ice.

“Val’s a good person at the end of the day. He’s a great guy. We all love him.”