As of right now, we know the Colorado Avalanche cannot terminate the contract of Valeri Nichushkin while he’s in stage three of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

We also know the Avalanche don’t plan on trading Nichushkin while he’s in the program, as they want to help rehabilitate the player and the person. As for whether or not he’ll play another game for the organization, we won’t really know if that will happen until he’s cleared to return from his suspension, but for now, he’s still a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

With Evgeni Kuznetsov terminating his contract in Carolina and heading back to the KHL, people have begun to ask about the possibility of the same thing happening with Val in Colorado. Kuznetsov had just one year remaining on his deal, while Nichushkin has six years and a little over $35 million remaining on his contract. The situations are quite a bit different, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from asking if Val might follow in Kuznetsov’s footsteps.

Kuznetsov signed a four-year deal with SKA of the KHL last week, and SKA’s head coach Roman Rotenburg was asked if Nichushkin is someone they’d be interested in if he was to leave the NHL.

He didn’t exactly rule it out.

“I was talking to Nichushkin. He and I are on very good terms, we talked to him in the spring,” he said. “Will he be in SKA? We’ll wait and see. Everything is possible. But today, as far as I understand from Nichushkin himself, he remains in the NHL. Colorado is counting on him, despite all his problems. And he wants to play there himself.”

The same article says that Russian journalist Daria Tuboltseva noted on Telegram that SKA is “waiting for Valeri Nichushkin by December.” I would recommend taking every rumor you hear with a big grain of salt, but it’s worth passing along. Kuznetsov may have been willing to walk away from $6 million because he can earn that back in Russia over the course of his contract, but there’s a lot more money left on Nichushkin’s deal. His situation is a bit more complicated.

Again, there’s still a lot that has to play out with this situation. When will Val actually be reinstated by the NHL and NHLPA? The suspension isn’t just for six months, it’s six months minimum, so it could linger on for a while longer. Where will the Avalanche sit in the standings when that does happen? Would everyone in the organization be willing to accept Nichushkin back after the suspension? Even if that answer is no, will they have no other choice but to bring him back? What does Val want? I could keep going, but we’re already three months into discussing this situation, so I’ll move on.

If something does change, it sounds like at least one KHL team would be interested.