The Colorado Avalanche trying extremely hard to retain this free agent

Nichushkin has had a breakout season this year, posting 25 goals and 52 points in only 62 games. Along with that impressive regular season, Nichushkin is having an impressive playoff performance with 8 goals and 13 points in 17 games, and has produced in clutch situations in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The forward is currently on a bargain deal for only $2.5M annually, but that number is more so reflective of his previous seasons where he has struggled. Nichushkin's had only 21, 27, and 10 points in his last three seasons between his time with Colorado and Dallas.

With his breakout season this year, the former 10th overall pick will command a much higher salary, likely in the range of $6M. The Avalanche have a number of bargain contracts, so they do have cap space flexibility to re-sign some players. However, this offseason they will also be faced with the decisions to re-sign Nazem Kadri, Darcy Kuemper, Andre Burakovsky, and a number of rental players they've acquired at the deadline.

If the Avalanche make it a priority to pay Nichushkin, it may be impossible to keep the rest of the quality players needing contracts as well. That being said, Colorado has instilled a winning culture with players on bargain deals, so it could be possible that Nichushkin takes a team friendly deal to stay with the Avalanche.