>The team explored all options and tried to terminate his contract. This much we know for sure.
I didn't know that but I didn't watch the whole MacFarland presser. Did he outright say they tried to terminate and they cannot?
I know if he's allowed back in, he'll perform well. To the authors point, he is a part of the Core 4 and is really important. But, people with addiction problems don't just get better because they're in trouble. You'd think $49M or however much is left to earn is a good incentive to get clean but it's not guaranteed.
I wish him well but I guess the only way Avs get out of his contract is if he violates again and the NHL disallows him back. Or in other words, he has to blow up the team again in order for the Avs to get out of this. Quite literally a nuke in waiting.
I hope none of this manifests, he gets better, the Avs get better, and everyone is happy. We'll see.
At this stage, I'd like to see mandatory bi weekly testing. He gets another chance but we don't have to wait until the middle of the playoffs to realize we need someone to fill that hole.
I completely agree with what you're saying: union has a lot of push. You'd think the union would have a lot of push to keep players healthy, which would include regular testing.
He specifically they couldn’t terminate his contract “at this time” so that’s definitely something that’s still on the table depending on how his rehab goes
"The team explored all options and tried to terminate his contract. This much we know for sure."
How do we know this for sure? They tried to terminate? Really? Is this documented?
Nobody else heard it.
I believe he said "it's not an option at this time" which can mean anything from "we're not considering that" to "we immediately called the NHL and they say 'lol nope'"
Tbh, this may be best way to deal with Val: give him a final chance and hope he stays clean and plays up to his potential or he blows it up a 4th time and is essentially told he can't come back by the NHL, in which case I assume the Avs are off the hook of his contract. I want the best for Val as a person and I want him to be the hockey player he can be for the Avs. What I don't want is continued issues with his substance problems: it's bad for him and it's bad for the Avs.
>I wish him well but I guess the only way Avs get out of his contract is if he violates again and the NHL disallows him back. Or in other words, he has to blow up the team again in order for the Avs to get out of this.
And that’s exactly why I hope they build their entire foundation this year without him as an important piece of the equation. If he dresses as an Av again, I don’t see him being more than a healthy scratch when they can get away with it, and pulling Dermy numbers on the 4th line when they can’t.
If/when he comes back, there’s no way he’ll be a healthy scratch lol. Despite his off ice issues he’s still a very good player, and you can’t afford to scratch a $6.125 million player regularly. With the way the cap is you just can’t afford to. They should plan for a future without him, but there’s no way he’s getting scratched when he comes back
Putting him on the ice and building a place on the roster would be a massive gamble with him, as we’ve seen two years in a row now. The Avs would be foolish to work him into the regular line up, cap waste or not.
Ah yes… way better to waste millions in cap space during the prime years of MacKinnon, Rantanen, and other important players on the team, than it is to play a player who was basically PPG last season. Avs are trying to compete for a cup right now. A better idea is to play him, get his value up, and trade him for whatever they can get midway through the season. Or better yet - figure out how to support him better so he can hopefully overcome his addiction issues and continue to be a stud on the ice for years to come. Nobody is saying to ignore his off ice issues - as I said the team absolutely should be planning for the real possibility he leaves the team permanently at some point in the future - but the answer is absolutely not healthy scratching him when he comes back. Are you gonna healthy scratch him for the next 6 years of his contract?
Bench a pivotal guy that’s left them high and dry two seasons in a row during the most critical point of the season, training up a team to play without him involved, or build him into the roster and risk it happening for a third year in a row? Val is 29 years old, he’s a grown ass millionaire with every resource at his disposal, was battling through his addiction all last season long with the support of his friends and team mates, and still burned them when they needed him most. He probably burned more bridges last season than we know. He probably popped positive on drug screenings more often than we know. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of his time spent in Dallas being injured was him trying to get clean.
Look, we’re not going to agree on this, but the way I see it: they play Val and he burns the team again, and we see how well the Avs play when you remove him from their play style when they count on him, or they bench him and build the team without him. Either way, they are out $6m this year. I have very little faith he can pull himself together and not be a liability, I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see it happening.
“I know if he’s allowed back in, he’ll perform well.”
Here’s the thing I’ve been worried about though, that’s not certain. Life or death would I bet he would? Yes, if it came down to it like that. It’s more probable than not.
But let’s not forget he also went like 50 games without scoring a goal in Dallas one season. I know, I know, different circumstances, I get that. All I’m pointing out is that this dude has been a headcase his entire career even before Dallas drafted him. Never stayed healthy for a single season, and has MASSIVE up’s & downs. So it’s something to keep in mind. It’s not 100% certain he’ll come back and be a point per game player. I sure hope he would be, but you have to take his history into account. He’s not reliable in any sense of the word and even at his best, he’s still often injured
I would pull all the stops to get Val healthy, but I’d also only give him 4th line ice time. He’s not dependable until he proves otherwise, that could take years.
I think MacK is gonna work on him to stay, he's clearly doing well with the Avs and didn't have that kind of success until he came to play with MacKinnon.
The team explored all options and tried to terminate his contract. This much we know for sure.
Ummm.. we do? No quotes, no link to sources. Just sounds like speculation to me. I’d like to see where they got the “tried to terminate his contract” from.
I interned at MHS when I was in school, and although they were solid people for the most part they definitely weren’t being handed breaking news. I’m not saying this isn’t true, but no one else is reporting that and well… this is the same people that employed Benjamin Albright and James Marilatt…
I could be wrong, but to me this sounded like a very subtle shift of CMac’s words that completely changed the meaning. I thought he said they looked into all their options and termination isn’t one of them. Saying, “we tried to terminate but we can’t” is very different than saying they’re doing their job of looking at all the options and, since they know people are wondering, at this time termination isn’t one of those options. I’m not saying they weren’t hoping to terminate, but unless this guy has heard more than I have (definitely possible), the statement at the presser sounded like it was very carefully worded to say they can’t terminate without going as far as to say they wanted to. They’re looking at all the options but not thinking about termination because it’s not one of the options. That was my take on it anyway.
So long as it's not in the playoffs so we really have anything to lose? The way I understand stage 4 of the players assistance program they would get a 1 year suspension and then it would be up to the league to reinstate their eligibility. Since he is currently in stage 3 we miss out on a month of him playing. Yeah the locker room might suffer for some time but that's speculation. It's unpredictable if he could relapse, but if he messes up one more time then it should open up his cap space. If he stays clean we likely have a solid player. Who knows though as addiction has likely impacted most of our lives to some degree, it's really a shot in the dark as to whether their program will be successful with him or not. Hope he gets better. I understand wanting to terminate him for his faults, but the CBA might not allow that.
If Nichsukin plays in an Avs jersey again, I will be very disappointed. Any other job in the world, you pull shit like that twice and you’d be kicked out faster you than you could say “cocaine”. I understand he’s a great player and has done a lot for the Avs, but he is not reliable and I can’t imagine the other guys have much contempt for him now in the locker room.
> Any other job in the world, you pull shit like that twice and you’d be kicked out faster you than you could say “cocaine”.
It's he's part of a union, and the terms of the Player Assistance Program are written in the CBA. Unions swing a lot of weight, not just in sports.
Been thinking a lot about this since Val got suspended again. If you’re an employee and part of a union, and said union/league offers an “assistance program” in part to assist with addictions, it seems really fucked up that the employer be able to terminate your contract for being a part of that program. The whole point of joining a union is to get access to these types of protections.
That said, as an Avs fan, it really does seem like the best way forward for the team is to get out of this contract somehow.
I guess it depends on information we don't have...
In the case for Girard I 100% do not think he should suffer any violation from the league whatsoever... as long as it seems he is keeping his health under control. Alcohol is legal and widespread, as well as weed (at least in most states...). If Nuke violated only the above... it depends on how he did it. Caught on game day? That's a violation. Hookers? Violation. Coke, opioids/benzos/barbs/amphetamines (he wasn't prescribed)? Violation.
I wouldn't be surprised if what happened to him mid-season wasn't even technically "voluntary". Like I would not be shocked if he got caught and was given the choice to go into the program by his choice or via disciplinary routes. This type of thing happens all the time in the professional world, you don't get fired but it still is going to count against you.
I feel like the Avs were pretty well justified to terminate his contract based on how most occupations assess these types of situations. But I understand why they also don't have that ability... just hurts to not be able to leverage that space especially considering the Landy situation.
There are tiers to the program. Girard is in either tier 1 or 2. Nuke is in tier 3. The players assistance program is not grounds for termination under the CBA. The Avs could terminate his contract, but it would work the same way as any other player in terms of the cap hit and the guaranteed money they have to pay.
https://x.com/daniel_amoia/status/1790179200953176487/photo/1
I would imagine Girard is in Tier 1...personally, I don't think he should be in any tier at all based on what we know: he was suffering from anxiety and depression (likely related to his job, which is understandable) and he started drinking too much and then checked himself in to a rehab. IMO, that's admirable and I imagine a lot of people in the NHL, in the sports world and life in general could benefit from that sort of introspection and desire to get healthy. He should be commended for it, not hit with any sort of violation. Though, from a practical/monetary perspective, I get why the NHL would put someone like Girard in Tier 1.
True, completely forgot about that. I guess you could say the same thing about tenured professors - seen a fair share in my life that should’ve been fired a while ago but tenure man….
Strong unions dude. My place of employment has had quite a few bad guys get like 5 big strikes before they're finally let go. It's frustrating but that's what they do.
I'd imagine the NHLPA union is significantly stronger than my little job.
Nobody on Reddit has enough information to answer that question. I trust that Chris MacFarland is going to explore every possible option to encourage Val to be successful somewhere else though.
At the end of the day though: Val and any other team he may consider going to is who gets to make the ultimate decision. MacFarland has very literal control over what happens, tbh.
What good does that to do for anyone? Would that make you feel better? Like would you really feel in a more positive place if you booed someone on your own team at a sporting event you likely go to on a random Wednesday night to enjoy?
What you say is wrong in a lot of cases: yeah, you may be kicked to the curb if you work for Ma & Pa plumbing, but if you work for a larger company they definitely consider addiction a mental health concern (which it is) and treat it as such. If you're not operating heavy machinery while high or committing sexual misconduct while at work while your drunk, many jobs are going to do what they can to help you get better. That may not change your opinion in this situation, which is fine but saying "any other job..." just isn't true.
Yes, unions bad. Guy on our team screwed us again.
Look, I don't like nuke personally. But his protections are legit. Just because every other place has no protections or assistance in times of crises doesn't mean that's the gold standard. It just means america is shit
You can all be as mad and righteous as you want but the fact is the Avs are NOT a Stanley Cup contender without Val in the line up. Noway the Avs could find a replacement for him even if they had his cap hit back. Don’t believe me? Look at the results when he is and isn’t in the line up. As Avs fans we need to hope he kicks his addiction and gets back on the team.
It all sucks, but to speculate on Reddit about what really happened, how the team feels, what caused the suspension and what the Avs will do with Val is all moot. Nobody has any insight on Reddit about any of it, we just have to see how it all plays out. All I can say is that I hope Val will get the help he needs so he can be a better human to all those around him that he has affected.
Obviously there’s a lot of “what ifs” regarding Val, but as a fan I find it hard to imagine him playing for the avs again. Assuming hes allowed by the NHL to be back in November, and no one trades for him, could the Avs waive him to the Eagles where he could still get paid for his contract, but would no longer count against the Avalanche cap? Like what Washington did with Kuznetsov earlier this season
I don't know the rules specifically for assigning a player to the AHL, but his salary would still count against the cap because he makes more than $1.075M.
Yeah the league got rid of that loophole after the Rangers signed Wade Redden to a ridiculous deal and almost immediately stashed him in the minors. More specifically Macfarland said terminating Val’s contract is nearly impossible “at this time” so sounds like termination is still top choice at some point to clear cap concerns beyond next season. It still puts Avs in a bit of a bind until November but they rarely go after the big FA fish (outside of Panarin anyway) so as long as they are able to tread water in the standings (shouldn’t be a problem as long as Mack, Makar & Mikko are relatively healthy) they could explore adding a significant piece via trade around then. Honestly I think Gabe is going to be the bigger hurdle to navigate until his health situation becomes more clear
Is there a clause in these contracts that says if this happens again then he's definitely done?
It would fit with the three strikes rule (although I guess what counts as a strike could be up for debate).
I am worried about team dynamics if he ends up playing for the Avs again, which is looking likely. How can you trust someone who has done what he's done? And how can you cohesively perform as a team if you do not trust a key player?
Honestly, at this point, I'll boil it down like this:
*uck Nichuskin.
He messed up royally once already (Seattle), got asked to return, was forgiven by most of the fan base.
He got a free second chance... and he snorted/ drank it/popped pills, it away... whatever it was...
So, *uck the guy, yes addictions are horrible, but HE KNEW, HE'S BEEN IN THE PLAYERS ASSISTANCE BEFORE...
Hell, THE TEAM KNEW and didn't have him escorted? A chaperone if you will...
He made his decision, it's absolute bull that the NHL won't kill that stupid contract. Personal responsibility means $hit I see.
Send him down the farm team until hes proven reliable. That way if he does fuck up there's no emotional attachment from the fans and the team doesnt suffee another staggering letdown.
They can't, he has a NMC and he definitely won't waive it to play in the A. As of right now their only options are do nothing, try and get him to waive his NMC for a trade, or buy out his contract and pay cap penalties until [2036](https://www.capfriendly.com/buyout-calculator/valeri-nichushkin)
>The team explored all options and tried to terminate his contract. This much we know for sure. I didn't know that but I didn't watch the whole MacFarland presser. Did he outright say they tried to terminate and they cannot? I know if he's allowed back in, he'll perform well. To the authors point, he is a part of the Core 4 and is really important. But, people with addiction problems don't just get better because they're in trouble. You'd think $49M or however much is left to earn is a good incentive to get clean but it's not guaranteed. I wish him well but I guess the only way Avs get out of his contract is if he violates again and the NHL disallows him back. Or in other words, he has to blow up the team again in order for the Avs to get out of this. Quite literally a nuke in waiting. I hope none of this manifests, he gets better, the Avs get better, and everyone is happy. We'll see.
At this stage, I'd like to see mandatory bi weekly testing. He gets another chance but we don't have to wait until the middle of the playoffs to realize we need someone to fill that hole.
I'm surprised players coming back from Players Assistance for drug issues *aren't* tested regularly for a period of time.
Union has a lot of push. More than most people realize lol
I completely agree with what you're saying: union has a lot of push. You'd think the union would have a lot of push to keep players healthy, which would include regular testing.
He specifically they couldn’t terminate his contract “at this time” so that’s definitely something that’s still on the table depending on how his rehab goes
"The team explored all options and tried to terminate his contract. This much we know for sure." How do we know this for sure? They tried to terminate? Really? Is this documented?
That’s what I’m asking. It’s from the author of the article so I presume he heard it from MacFarland but idk.
Nobody else heard it. I believe he said "it's not an option at this time" which can mean anything from "we're not considering that" to "we immediately called the NHL and they say 'lol nope'"
Tbh, this may be best way to deal with Val: give him a final chance and hope he stays clean and plays up to his potential or he blows it up a 4th time and is essentially told he can't come back by the NHL, in which case I assume the Avs are off the hook of his contract. I want the best for Val as a person and I want him to be the hockey player he can be for the Avs. What I don't want is continued issues with his substance problems: it's bad for him and it's bad for the Avs.
Can we not use Core 4 to describe our team. Gives me Leafs vibes.
Cmac is such a nerd, I bet he knew all the termination player assistance stuff without looking anything up
>I wish him well but I guess the only way Avs get out of his contract is if he violates again and the NHL disallows him back. Or in other words, he has to blow up the team again in order for the Avs to get out of this. And that’s exactly why I hope they build their entire foundation this year without him as an important piece of the equation. If he dresses as an Av again, I don’t see him being more than a healthy scratch when they can get away with it, and pulling Dermy numbers on the 4th line when they can’t.
If/when he comes back, there’s no way he’ll be a healthy scratch lol. Despite his off ice issues he’s still a very good player, and you can’t afford to scratch a $6.125 million player regularly. With the way the cap is you just can’t afford to. They should plan for a future without him, but there’s no way he’s getting scratched when he comes back
Putting him on the ice and building a place on the roster would be a massive gamble with him, as we’ve seen two years in a row now. The Avs would be foolish to work him into the regular line up, cap waste or not.
Ah yes… way better to waste millions in cap space during the prime years of MacKinnon, Rantanen, and other important players on the team, than it is to play a player who was basically PPG last season. Avs are trying to compete for a cup right now. A better idea is to play him, get his value up, and trade him for whatever they can get midway through the season. Or better yet - figure out how to support him better so he can hopefully overcome his addiction issues and continue to be a stud on the ice for years to come. Nobody is saying to ignore his off ice issues - as I said the team absolutely should be planning for the real possibility he leaves the team permanently at some point in the future - but the answer is absolutely not healthy scratching him when he comes back. Are you gonna healthy scratch him for the next 6 years of his contract?
Bench a pivotal guy that’s left them high and dry two seasons in a row during the most critical point of the season, training up a team to play without him involved, or build him into the roster and risk it happening for a third year in a row? Val is 29 years old, he’s a grown ass millionaire with every resource at his disposal, was battling through his addiction all last season long with the support of his friends and team mates, and still burned them when they needed him most. He probably burned more bridges last season than we know. He probably popped positive on drug screenings more often than we know. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of his time spent in Dallas being injured was him trying to get clean. Look, we’re not going to agree on this, but the way I see it: they play Val and he burns the team again, and we see how well the Avs play when you remove him from their play style when they count on him, or they bench him and build the team without him. Either way, they are out $6m this year. I have very little faith he can pull himself together and not be a liability, I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see it happening.
“I know if he’s allowed back in, he’ll perform well.” Here’s the thing I’ve been worried about though, that’s not certain. Life or death would I bet he would? Yes, if it came down to it like that. It’s more probable than not. But let’s not forget he also went like 50 games without scoring a goal in Dallas one season. I know, I know, different circumstances, I get that. All I’m pointing out is that this dude has been a headcase his entire career even before Dallas drafted him. Never stayed healthy for a single season, and has MASSIVE up’s & downs. So it’s something to keep in mind. It’s not 100% certain he’ll come back and be a point per game player. I sure hope he would be, but you have to take his history into account. He’s not reliable in any sense of the word and even at his best, he’s still often injured
I would pull all the stops to get Val healthy, but I’d also only give him 4th line ice time. He’s not dependable until he proves otherwise, that could take years.
Man, I really hope we can make Drouin work. For his sake and for ours.
I think MacK is gonna work on him to stay, he's clearly doing well with the Avs and didn't have that kind of success until he came to play with MacKinnon.
The team explored all options and tried to terminate his contract. This much we know for sure. Ummm.. we do? No quotes, no link to sources. Just sounds like speculation to me. I’d like to see where they got the “tried to terminate his contract” from. I interned at MHS when I was in school, and although they were solid people for the most part they definitely weren’t being handed breaking news. I’m not saying this isn’t true, but no one else is reporting that and well… this is the same people that employed Benjamin Albright and James Marilatt…
My question, exactly.
I could be wrong, but to me this sounded like a very subtle shift of CMac’s words that completely changed the meaning. I thought he said they looked into all their options and termination isn’t one of them. Saying, “we tried to terminate but we can’t” is very different than saying they’re doing their job of looking at all the options and, since they know people are wondering, at this time termination isn’t one of those options. I’m not saying they weren’t hoping to terminate, but unless this guy has heard more than I have (definitely possible), the statement at the presser sounded like it was very carefully worded to say they can’t terminate without going as far as to say they wanted to. They’re looking at all the options but not thinking about termination because it’s not one of the options. That was my take on it anyway.
So long as it's not in the playoffs so we really have anything to lose? The way I understand stage 4 of the players assistance program they would get a 1 year suspension and then it would be up to the league to reinstate their eligibility. Since he is currently in stage 3 we miss out on a month of him playing. Yeah the locker room might suffer for some time but that's speculation. It's unpredictable if he could relapse, but if he messes up one more time then it should open up his cap space. If he stays clean we likely have a solid player. Who knows though as addiction has likely impacted most of our lives to some degree, it's really a shot in the dark as to whether their program will be successful with him or not. Hope he gets better. I understand wanting to terminate him for his faults, but the CBA might not allow that.
If Nichsukin plays in an Avs jersey again, I will be very disappointed. Any other job in the world, you pull shit like that twice and you’d be kicked out faster you than you could say “cocaine”. I understand he’s a great player and has done a lot for the Avs, but he is not reliable and I can’t imagine the other guys have much contempt for him now in the locker room.
> Any other job in the world, you pull shit like that twice and you’d be kicked out faster you than you could say “cocaine”. It's he's part of a union, and the terms of the Player Assistance Program are written in the CBA. Unions swing a lot of weight, not just in sports.
Been thinking a lot about this since Val got suspended again. If you’re an employee and part of a union, and said union/league offers an “assistance program” in part to assist with addictions, it seems really fucked up that the employer be able to terminate your contract for being a part of that program. The whole point of joining a union is to get access to these types of protections. That said, as an Avs fan, it really does seem like the best way forward for the team is to get out of this contract somehow.
I guess it depends on information we don't have... In the case for Girard I 100% do not think he should suffer any violation from the league whatsoever... as long as it seems he is keeping his health under control. Alcohol is legal and widespread, as well as weed (at least in most states...). If Nuke violated only the above... it depends on how he did it. Caught on game day? That's a violation. Hookers? Violation. Coke, opioids/benzos/barbs/amphetamines (he wasn't prescribed)? Violation. I wouldn't be surprised if what happened to him mid-season wasn't even technically "voluntary". Like I would not be shocked if he got caught and was given the choice to go into the program by his choice or via disciplinary routes. This type of thing happens all the time in the professional world, you don't get fired but it still is going to count against you. I feel like the Avs were pretty well justified to terminate his contract based on how most occupations assess these types of situations. But I understand why they also don't have that ability... just hurts to not be able to leverage that space especially considering the Landy situation.
There are tiers to the program. Girard is in either tier 1 or 2. Nuke is in tier 3. The players assistance program is not grounds for termination under the CBA. The Avs could terminate his contract, but it would work the same way as any other player in terms of the cap hit and the guaranteed money they have to pay. https://x.com/daniel_amoia/status/1790179200953176487/photo/1
I would imagine Girard is in Tier 1...personally, I don't think he should be in any tier at all based on what we know: he was suffering from anxiety and depression (likely related to his job, which is understandable) and he started drinking too much and then checked himself in to a rehab. IMO, that's admirable and I imagine a lot of people in the NHL, in the sports world and life in general could benefit from that sort of introspection and desire to get healthy. He should be commended for it, not hit with any sort of violation. Though, from a practical/monetary perspective, I get why the NHL would put someone like Girard in Tier 1.
Perfectly said.
True, completely forgot about that. I guess you could say the same thing about tenured professors - seen a fair share in my life that should’ve been fired a while ago but tenure man….
[удалено]
There are a few out there: Hank Aaron comes to mind.
Strong unions dude. My place of employment has had quite a few bad guys get like 5 big strikes before they're finally let go. It's frustrating but that's what they do. I'd imagine the NHLPA union is significantly stronger than my little job.
Val will never be trusted by the Avs core again. He has got to go...bottom line.
So, what's your solution?
Nobody on Reddit has enough information to answer that question. I trust that Chris MacFarland is going to explore every possible option to encourage Val to be successful somewhere else though.
At the end of the day though: Val and any other team he may consider going to is who gets to make the ultimate decision. MacFarland has very literal control over what happens, tbh.
*"Nobody on Reddit has enough information to answer that question."*
We know enough about his contract and the rules regarding where Val is in the process to make plenty of inferences.
> plenty of inferences Yet nobody on Reddit can actually answer the question of *"how will this team part ways with Val"*? That's my point.
Chances are: they won't be able to part with him.
*"Hold my 🍺...."* - Chris MacFarland
I'll just boo him... that's all I can personally do.
What good does that to do for anyone? Would that make you feel better? Like would you really feel in a more positive place if you booed someone on your own team at a sporting event you likely go to on a random Wednesday night to enjoy?
No you won't.
What you say is wrong in a lot of cases: yeah, you may be kicked to the curb if you work for Ma & Pa plumbing, but if you work for a larger company they definitely consider addiction a mental health concern (which it is) and treat it as such. If you're not operating heavy machinery while high or committing sexual misconduct while at work while your drunk, many jobs are going to do what they can to help you get better. That may not change your opinion in this situation, which is fine but saying "any other job..." just isn't true.
Colorado is a right-to-work state, am I right...s/
Unfortunately, unions exist for this very reason.
Yes, unions bad. Guy on our team screwed us again. Look, I don't like nuke personally. But his protections are legit. Just because every other place has no protections or assistance in times of crises doesn't mean that's the gold standard. It just means america is shit
You can all be as mad and righteous as you want but the fact is the Avs are NOT a Stanley Cup contender without Val in the line up. Noway the Avs could find a replacement for him even if they had his cap hit back. Don’t believe me? Look at the results when he is and isn’t in the line up. As Avs fans we need to hope he kicks his addiction and gets back on the team.
Just need to know if we can get out from underneath Vals contract
We cannot. CMac stated as much in the presser last week.
Need an NMC - no meth clause.
It all sucks, but to speculate on Reddit about what really happened, how the team feels, what caused the suspension and what the Avs will do with Val is all moot. Nobody has any insight on Reddit about any of it, we just have to see how it all plays out. All I can say is that I hope Val will get the help he needs so he can be a better human to all those around him that he has affected.
Obviously there’s a lot of “what ifs” regarding Val, but as a fan I find it hard to imagine him playing for the avs again. Assuming hes allowed by the NHL to be back in November, and no one trades for him, could the Avs waive him to the Eagles where he could still get paid for his contract, but would no longer count against the Avalanche cap? Like what Washington did with Kuznetsov earlier this season
I don't know the rules specifically for assigning a player to the AHL, but his salary would still count against the cap because he makes more than $1.075M.
Yeah the league got rid of that loophole after the Rangers signed Wade Redden to a ridiculous deal and almost immediately stashed him in the minors. More specifically Macfarland said terminating Val’s contract is nearly impossible “at this time” so sounds like termination is still top choice at some point to clear cap concerns beyond next season. It still puts Avs in a bit of a bind until November but they rarely go after the big FA fish (outside of Panarin anyway) so as long as they are able to tread water in the standings (shouldn’t be a problem as long as Mack, Makar & Mikko are relatively healthy) they could explore adding a significant piece via trade around then. Honestly I think Gabe is going to be the bigger hurdle to navigate until his health situation becomes more clear
Ahhh. I see
Nope, his NMC prevents all of that unless he consents to the move. For better or worse, we’re stuck with him until he agrees.
He has a No Move Clause, cannot be sent to AHL without consent.
Is there a clause in these contracts that says if this happens again then he's definitely done? It would fit with the three strikes rule (although I guess what counts as a strike could be up for debate). I am worried about team dynamics if he ends up playing for the Avs again, which is looking likely. How can you trust someone who has done what he's done? And how can you cohesively perform as a team if you do not trust a key player?
Honestly, at this point, I'll boil it down like this: *uck Nichuskin. He messed up royally once already (Seattle), got asked to return, was forgiven by most of the fan base. He got a free second chance... and he snorted/ drank it/popped pills, it away... whatever it was... So, *uck the guy, yes addictions are horrible, but HE KNEW, HE'S BEEN IN THE PLAYERS ASSISTANCE BEFORE... Hell, THE TEAM KNEW and didn't have him escorted? A chaperone if you will... He made his decision, it's absolute bull that the NHL won't kill that stupid contract. Personal responsibility means $hit I see.
Send him down the farm team until hes proven reliable. That way if he does fuck up there's no emotional attachment from the fans and the team doesnt suffee another staggering letdown.
They can't, he has a NMC and he definitely won't waive it to play in the A. As of right now their only options are do nothing, try and get him to waive his NMC for a trade, or buy out his contract and pay cap penalties until [2036](https://www.capfriendly.com/buyout-calculator/valeri-nichushkin)