The Colorado Avalanche will be without Valeri Nichushkin for at least a week or so, according to head coach Jared Bednar. He suffered a lower-body injury against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and will be reevaluated over the next week to get a clearer idea of how much time he will miss.

“He’s going to be week-to-week. I can’t give you a tighter timeline than that until we see how he goes for the next handful of days,” Bednar said. “I would say early next week, we can probably pinpoint it more, but nothing too serious, which is good, but serious enough that he’s going to miss a handful of games at least.”

Colorado has been without the 30-year-old Russian in past seasons for various reasons, and his absence has greatly impacted the team, according to StatMuse.com.

Season

With Nichushkin

Without Nichushkin

2024-25

29-12-2

20-17-2

2023-24

35-15-4

15-10-3

2022-23

39-8-6

12-6-1

“We know from the past that obviously Val is such a key piece for us and top two lines there, and losing a guy like that, it’s not easy to fill those roles,” Cale Makar said. “But this year, I feel like we have more depth than we ever have. So whoever they put up on that line tonight’s going to do a great job, and it’ll be a big key for us to be able to — it’s not just filling his role, but everybody will need to step up.”

Nichushkin has been playing with Brock Nelson and Ross Colton on the second line. But it is not just that line that is affected. He also plays on both special teams.

“Val’s an incredible player and he brings out both sides, he plays all situations, impacts it — power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5,” Nelson said. “Not surprising that the team’s better with him in it, so we’ll miss him when he’s out, hopefully it’s not long. He probably deserves a little bit more credit (inaudible) with where he is and the impact he has in terms of all areas of the game.”

Bednar said Gavin Brindley has been promoted to the second line to play with Nelson and Colton against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. It is an evolving situation and may change based on that line’s performance.

Updates on Nichushkin’s condition and return can be found @FerPucksSake on the X platform.