Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff has no hard feelings after Valeri Nichushkin elected to leave the club to sign in the KHL with CSKA Moscow this week.
Related: Stars GM: 'Not the end of the world' if Nichushkin leaves for KHL
Among the reported reasons as to why the forward elected to head back across the Atlantic, is that Nichushkin did not want to play for Ruff. The claim comes as a surprise to the Stars head coach given how exit interviews went at the end of the year.
"I was actually surprised, I thought we were communicating well," Ruff said, according to Mike Heika of Sportsday. "Our last meeting, Val told me he understood the situation and he had things he wanted to work on in the summer. I thought the conversation was great."
A rift between Nichushkin and Ruff was reported last season after the Russian forward was reportedly unhappy with his ice time. However, Ruff feels Nichushkin received adequate minutes and, ultimately, any reason for his decreased ice time was because of the strong play of others.
"A guy like (Mattias) Janmark came in and played so well, same with (Radek) Faksa and (Stephen) Johns. They forced us to make decisions. Other young players didn't do that," Ruff said. "I take a lot of pride in how I communicate with the players, and I really think I did that with Val. Some decisions are hard for coaches."
All things said, Ruff insists that if and when the opportunity presents itself, he will welcome the 2013 first-round pick back with open arms.
"I'd be more than happy to have him back, because I really like what he has to offer," Ruff said.
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