Valeri Nichushkin – Right Wing
2015 – 16 Cap Hit: $925,000&
Age: 21&
Drafted: 10th overall in 2013
The big Russian winger impressed many with a 34-point rookie campaign as an 18-year-old, but a hip injury and surgery to repair it limited Nichushkin to eight games in the 2014-15 season. Fully recovered, the Stars 2013 first rounder slid to nine goals this season and indicated to a Russian newspaper in March that he was not happy with how he was being utilized by Stars coach Lindy Ruff.
Ruff does not appear to have confidence in Nichushkin’s two-way game, which is why the 20-year-old has been scratched twice during the playoffs, in spite of the Stars being without center Tyler Seguin. There could be some concern that the winger could choose to bolt for the KHL instead of signing an extension with Dallas this summer.