Stars: What To Make Of Comments Regarding Val Nichushkin

The Dallas Stars are lucky to have young forward Valeri Nichushkin, but some recent comments could be a cause for concern.

Valeri Nichushkin bust onto the scene with the Dallas Stars back in the 2013-14 season. As a 6’4 right winger, Nichushkin had a edge, in terms of size, against opposing defenses.

His rookie year was encouraging as he played on the top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin for the majority of the season. In the process, he managed to put up 14 goals and 20 assists for a total of 34 points while playing 79 regular season games for the Stars. In the playoffs, he added a goal and an assist.

Though his first season went well, his second did not. Nichushkin had hip surgery early on in the year, causing him to miss the majority of the season. As a result, he only played a total of eight games and had just one assist.

As the 2015-16 season approached, Nichushkin looked to take advantage of playing on an improved Stars team. Throughout the year, he has been bounced around to different lines but usually settles in on the second, playing with a combination of Jason Spezza and Mattias Janmark.

Recently, some concerning news came out regarding his play this season. After a win on Mar. 26 against the San Jose Sharks, a Russian website (sport-express.ru) released an article with quotes from Nichushkin. Multiple sources, including NBC Sports, determined the he had spoken on his lack of playing time as well as a potential bad relationship with head coach Lindy Ruff.

According to SportsDay his agent, Mark Gandler, said this on the subject just a few days later:

"“I don’t want to say much about contracts, but I can tell you that Val loves it in Dallas. He’s very happy there.”"

Later on, Ruff responded with his thoughts on the situation, explaining that he thinks Nichushkin “is in a good place” with the team and that sometimes, “it’s OK to be frustrated.”

Though everything seems to be in check now, it is interesting to digest these comments a little further. Nichushkin is another one of the Stars’ young players with a bright future ahead. Could he be losing time to some of these other players?

It’s possible but that doesn’t appear to be the case. During the Stars 2013-14 campaign, he averaged 14:58 of playing time. This season, he is averaging 13:55, just about a minute less than his only other healthy season. In the month of March, he has been seeing totals similar to that, playing at least 14 minutes in all but four games.

Though he has seven points less than he did in his rookie season, he is still getting the opportunity to make an impact. Also, as Lindy Ruff stated above, killing penalties takes minutes away from some players.

I’m convinced that there isn’t anything to worry about regarding this whole situation as frustration impacts even the best of players at times. If there is, and if dealing Nichushkin is deemed the right move to make, Nail Yakupov, who recently requested a trade from the Edmonton Oilers, could be a nice starting position this summer.

More dfw sports: Jamie Benn Is Defining What It Means To Be A Captain

Nichushkin has nine goals and 18 assists so far this season. While his numbers are not exactly where they have been before, he is still performing well for one of the best teams in the NHL.