Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Stars GM hopes a ‘more mature’ Nichushkin will return to Dallas after KHL stint

Dallas Stars v Arizona Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 18: Valeri Nichushkin #43 of the Dallas Stars during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on February 18, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Stars 6-3. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Getty Images

It sounds like Jim Nill has accepted the fact that Valeri Nichushkin is headed to the KHL.

“The good news is he’s 21 years of age, he’s going to play over there and keep developing,” Nill said yesterday, per Wrong Side of the Red Line. “I just hope we get a more mature player when he decides to come back over. It’s not the end of the world.”

CSKA Moscow announced today that Nichushkin had agreed to a two-year deal. “The agreement will be signed in the near future,” the club said in a statement.

This is not the first time a talented Russian youngster has chosen to leave the NHL for the KHL. The Winnipeg Jets lost Alexander Burmistrov for a couple of years, before he returned for last season.

Nichushkin’s biggest issue seems to be with Stars head coach Lindy Ruff. According to one report, the former 10th overall draft pick wants to return to Dallas one day, but he doesn’t want to play for Ruff.

Late last month, the Stars signed veteran winger Jiri Hudler, perhaps with the expectation they’d be losing Nichushkin.