Last month, Valeri Nichushkin was a main driver of Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup. The 27-year old was drafted 10th overall by Dallas in 2013, but never lived up to his potential with the Stars. Long an analytic darling for his impressive advanced stats, Nichushkin just couldn’t buy a goal for the longest time. He went 91 games without a goal at one point, a streak finally broken in November 2019.
If you didn’t know that history and just watched this season or the NHL playoffs, you wouldn’t have known that. Nichushkin scored 25 goals and 52 points in just 62 games for the Avalanche this season.