Valeri Nichushkin
Nichushkin was promoted to the top line in the Oct. 24 game against Vegas, and he looks like a top-six winger who gets power-play time and kills penalties, though that line has changed often this month.
Role
Beat writers quoted on gamedaytweets.com (searched Oct. 26) had him on the first line with Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson for the Oct. 24 game against Vegas. They described it as a big line change, with Matthew Knies dropped to a second line with Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier. Inside the Rink's Oct. 24 preview had him on the second power-play unit with Coyle, Johnson, Damon Severson and Denton Mateychuk, and on the first penalty-kill unit with Sean Monahan, Zach Werenski and Severson. Knies, Monahan, Conor Garland, Fantilli and Werenski were listed on the first unit in that preview. A beat-writer tweet said coach Rick Bowness had promised power-play changes and then made them. Earlier this month he moved between lines: Oct. 10 on the second line with Monahan and Dmitri Voronkov, Oct. 13 with Monahan and Garland, and later in practice back with Fantilli and Johnson. I did not fetch Daily Faceoff's page, and I have no ice-time figures for this season. Knies competes with him for the top-line left wing spot. Coyle, Monahan, Garland and Johnson compete for the power-play work.
The top-line spot next to Fantilli and Johnson is the best offensive role on the roster, and the coaches gave it to him after trying other combinations. A pre-season Union and Blue columnist described his speed, size, skill and experience as a fit with the team's young stars. He also holds a power-play spot and a first-unit penalty-kill job, so his usage is wide. One recap of the Vegas game called the promotion noteworthy.
The line has not stayed stable. He was on the second line on Oct. 10, and 5v5 Hockey and ESPN-style projection pages disagree about where he sits. Knies was on the top line as late as Oct. 18 on 5v5 Hockey's page, so he could be moved back down. His power-play role is the second unit in the preview I found, and the first unit has changed by the week. Last season he played only 9 games and had 5 points, 1 of them on the power play, so we have little recent output to lean on. The wire note says day-to-day, which I could not confirm or date from anything I found.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether he keeps the top-line left wing spot next to Fantilli and Johnson, or whether Knies takes it back. A second question is whether his power-play role stays on the second unit or moves up.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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