Stars to sign Nichushkin to 2-year deal

The Dallas Stars plan to sign forward Valeri Nichushkin to a two-year contract when free agency opens on July 1, general manager Jim Nill confirmed to Sean Shapiro of The Athletic.

Nichushkin has spent the past two seasons with the KHL's CSKA Moscow but is eyeing a return to Dallas, the club which selected him 10th overall in the 2013 draft.

The 23-year-old played parts of three seasons with the Stars before heading home to Russia. He notched 14 goals and 20 assists across 79 games in his impressive NHL rookie year.

With Moscow this season, Nichushkin tallied 16 goals and 11 assists in 50 contests to finish fifth in team scoring. While those numbers may seem underwhelming, it may be worth keeping his recent production in perspective.

"Goals and points is very difficult to find on the big ice surface. Particularly in that league, and it's a very tight-checking league," Nichushkin's agent, Mark Gandler, said last month. "So points and goals are difficult to come by, but considering all that, I think it was a very good season."

Nichushkin's offensive abilities are sure to help the Stars, as they finished 19th in goals scored last season.

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