Dallas Assigns Valeri Nichushkin to Texas Stars For Conditioning Stint

Dallas' 2013 first round pick Valeri Nichushkin has been assigned to the Texas Stars on a conditioning stint. The young Russian, who is in his second professional year in North America, went on the injured reserve early in the NHL season and has not played since October 11th.

It was a possibility that Nichushkin would be assigned for last year's playoffs, but after a long year of more than 100 games, he needed a summer off. This year, he injured his groin and is coming to Texas for a few games to get back up to speed.

With the assignment, Texas now has five Dallas first-round picks on the roster. It is unclear if Nichushkin will still be on the roster when the Stars return home on Wednesday for their game against Toronto. It's most likely he will play against Lake Erie this weekend and then head back to help the NHL squad.

This is certainly the highest profile conditioning assignment for Texas in franchise history. Other prior assignees include Mark Fistric, Toby Petersen, Kevin Connauton and Aaron Rome.

Here's the release:
The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, announced today forward Valeri Nichushkin has been assigned to the team for a conditioning assignment.

Texas is currently on the road to face the Lake Erie Monsters in a pair of games this weekend.

The 19-year-old Nichushkin (nih-CHOOSH-kihn) has appeared in two games this season with the Stars. Last season as a rookie, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound forward tallied 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 79 games for Dallas.

Nichushkin was selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by Dallas (10th overall).

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