SEATTLE — Valeri Nichushkin missed Game 3 of the Avalanche’s first-round series against the Kraken due to “personal reasons,” coach Jared Bednar said after Colorado’s Game 3 win.
Nichushkin was taken to the airport and is no longer in Seattle with the team as of Saturday night, a team spokesperson told The Post. Bednar said Nichushkin’s absence is not team discipline related.
Nichushkin did not join the Avs for morning skate Saturday before Game 3, but Bednar said at the time that Nichushkin’s absence was due to maintenance. When contacted by The Post before the game, the team initially said Nichushkin was not playing due to injury. Nichushkin has been battling an off-and-on ankle injury since undergoing surgery in November.
The top-six Avalanche forward played in 53 regular-season games, scoring 17 goals and 47 points.
Nichushkin scored the tying goal in a 3-2 series-knotting Game 2 win at Ball Arena on Thursday. He plays power play and penalty kill minutes for the Avs.
Nichushkin signed an eight-year contract with the Avalanche through 2029-30 last offseason, with an average annual value of $6.125 million.
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