It had been about 10 months since Valeri Nichushkin had used his Instagram account to post anything. His first since then is raising some eyebrows given what happened in the 2023 playoffs.

Nichushkin took to his Instagram account tonight and posted a photo of himself with what appears to be a powerful weapon. There's also a photo of him with someone holding the same weapon from the first photo. Nichushkin captioned it "brothers." The photos were taken in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Nichushkin's home town. Nichushkin is wearing a big ring in both pictures, but it's not clear whether it's his 2022 Stanley Cup ring. The Russian text in the first photo translates to "romance" or "love."





During the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Nichushkin disappeared after just two games, a huge surprise given what he brings to the Colorado Avalanche. The situation became more odd after it was learned that Nichushkin had been escorted from a hotel in Seattle by security, while a team doctor and police dealt with a situation in his hotel room. According to the police report, a woman in his hotel room was so drunk that a phone call was placed to 9-1-1 as authorities were worried she could slip away. The woman, born in Russia but of Ukrainian decent, told police money and a passport had been stolen from her by "bad" people. Nichushkin never returned to the Avs in the post season, as the defending Cup champs lost in the first round to the Kraken. Nichushkin has never commented publicly on the situation and, as far as anyone knows, has never been charged with anything.

Tensions are high in Russia and regarding Russia right now, to say the very least. These photos may not be the smartest move of Nichushkin's life. His previous post before this one was at the beginning of the 2022-23 season.