Val Nichushkin situation for the Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche are concerned for Val Nichushkin's well-being and admit they have no idea what he is going through, "As somebody who was not really familiar with with addiction and the challenges of it.  You feel for the person, right? This is a  this is a human being.  He's a dad. He's a husband. There's not  a member of our organization that doesn't want Val to. To get to get stuff right in his own life so that  that he can be in a good place," says Avalanche general manager Chris Macfarland. Avs captain Gabe Landeskog adds, "We look after one another and that goes both ways. You know, he needs to look out for himself, but he also needs to be a part of of what we're trying to accomplish here."

While the Avs are trying to capture hockey's ultimate prize. They say they need Nichushkin to be reliable, "So you care for him and you want him to get help and you want to get right, what happens here moving forward. That's up to him how he's going to handle it. You know, we're obviously pulling for him and hope everything goes well," says Landeskog. Macfarland adds, "It's a privilege to play in this league and when you sign that on that contract, there's things that have to be adhered to. Hopefully Val takes the next six months to get himself right."

The Avs are rooting for Val to get right and their hope is that in the future they will be able to trust him,

"We will see how Val handles this situation and how the next six months go," says Landeskog.

"The obvious question is, you know, the termination and at this time that's not an option. So the best thing I can say is we're pulling for Val to do what he needs to do to take care of himself," says Marfarland.