Avalanche re-up Nichushkin with reported 2-year, $5M contract

The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed restricted free-agent forward Valeri Nichushkin, the team announced Saturday.

The contract is a two-year deal carrying an annual cap hit of $2.5 million, a source told The Athletic's Ryan Clark.

Nichushkin registered only 13 goals and 14 helpers in 65 games with the Avs last season. But he posted some elite defensive metrics, according to HockeyViz (zero is league average, anything under that is considered good):

He received some down-ballot Selke Trophy votes, too, finishing eighth for the award given to the league's top defensive forward.

Even after re-signing Andre Burakovsky earlier Saturday, the Avs still hold nearly $15 million in cap space and could make a splash. However, fellow RFAs Tyson Jost, Vladislav Kamenev, Ryan Graves, and Nikita Zadorov still need new deals.