Valeri Nichushkin was on a path to stardom.



By mid-December of his rookie season, a then 18-year-old Nichushkin had 17 points in 32 games, he was getting opportunities on the Dallas Stars’ top line and recently had a career-best four-point night in a 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.



He had also grabbed the attention of Jaromir Jagr. Then playing for the New Jersey Devils, Jagr added more steam to the Nichushkin hype machine when he said the teenager could eventually be one of the best players in the world.



Barring a massive career shift, that turned into a false prophecy. Nichushkin finished out a strong rookie season with 34 points but missed the majority of the 2014-15 season due to injury. His 2015-16 campaign was OK, but due to frustrations with his usage and how much the Stars were willing to pay him he returned to the KHL and signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow.



At the time, Stars general manager Jim Nill said...