Report: Nichushkin to take part in Avs training camp

The Colorado Avalanche expect forward Valeri Nichushkin to participate in training camp, a team spokesperson confirmed to Kyle Fredrickson of The Denver Gazette. 

The update comes roughly six weeks after Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said he was unable to give an update on the situation with Nichushkin, who missed the team's final five playoff games due to "personal reasons."

“I can’t comment on anything Val related other than to say he was a very important part of our team in the past. That’s our hope, that he’s going to be a very important part of our team in the future for sure,” MacFarland said in early May.

Fredrickson notes that Nichushkin "has not been charged with a crime and is not currently under investigation by authorities."

While the Avalanche have remained tight-lipped on the situation, Nichushkin's absence from the team appears to stem from an incident in his hotel room during the playoffs.

According to a report from the Seattle Police Department obtained by The Associated Press, officers responded crisis call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle at 3:44 p.m. PDT on the afternoon of Game 3 of the Avalanche's first-round series with the Seattle Kraken.

A 28-year-old woman was in an ambulance when officers arrived, and medics were told to speak with Avalanche team physician Dr. Bradley Changstrom to gather more details.

According to the report, Changstrom told officers that team employees found the woman when they were checking in on Nichushkin. Changstrom told officers the woman appeared to be heavily intoxicated, was too intoxicated to have left the hotel “in a ride share or cab service,” and requested EMS assistance.

Changstrom said the woman hit him, but he did not want to press charges, the report said.

When approached in the ambulance by officers, the woman stated she was from Russia but born in Ukraine. She was transported to Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, according to the report.

Nichushkin, who is from Chelyabinsk, Russia, is in his fourth season with the Avalanche and eighth season in the NHL

The 28-year-old, who had 17 goals and 47 points in 53 games this season, is signed through the 2029-30 season at a cap hit of $6.125 million.

Files from the Canadian Press were used in this report