Valeri Nichuskin left the team right in the middle of the second round
Some things are more important than hockey. Valeri Nichuskin doing what he needs to do to be a better/healthier person falls into that category. That must be mentioned when talking about his leave.
It did negatively impact the roster on the ice. Nichuskin played in all five games of Colorado's series against the Winnipeg Jets. Remarkably, he scored in all five of them and that includes a hat trick in game four. Having seven goals in the first round shows how dominant of a scorer he can be.
In the second round, he played the first three games before being removed and he scored in two of them. He also had an assist in the first game.
Nichuskin is a dominant power forward who plays the game at a high level. He knows how to put the puck in the back of the net with frequency. Losing him is a big reason they won't be winning the Stanley Cup.