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Nichushkin, out since November, moves closer to rejoining red-hot Stars

Valeri Nichushkin

Valeri Nichushkin

AP

These are pretty decent times for Dallas -- the club has won nine of 12 in March, continues to keep its slim playoff hopes alive and, now, could get a huge piece of the lineup back for the final few games of the regular season.

Sophomore Valeri Nichushkin, who’s been out since mid-November following hip surgery, has been activated from injured reserve and will head down to AHL Texas on a brief conditioning stint, the club announced on Friday.

Nichushkin, 20, has missed almost the entire regular season with the aforementioned hip injury, appearing in just four games. It was a fairly significant loss for the Stars; in his rookie campaign, Nichushkin appeared in 79 games and performed well, scoring 14 goals and 34 points while averaging just under 15 minutes per game.

The big Russian also played in all six of Dallas’ opening-round postseason games against Anaheim, scoring a goal and two points.

Texas plays twice this weekend, then once more again on Wednesday, meaning Nichushkin could get back into the Dallas lineup when the club hosts St. Louis next Friday. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of state the club will be in when Nichushkin’s ready to return; the Stars head into Friday’s game in Edmonton eight points back of Winnipeg for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, but do have a game in hand on the Jets.