Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s NHL run appears to be winding down, and the next stop is shaping up to be overseas.
According to Jeremy Garrett of Hockey News Hub, the former Avalanche forward has agreed to terms with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League through May 2027. For a player most Colorado fans will forever link to the 2022 championship team, it marks a notable turn toward a new chapter after 310 regular-season NHL games.
Aube-Kubel’s name will always carry one unforgettable image from the Avalanche’s Cup celebration. He was part of the 2022 title team, and during the festivities he accidentally dropped the Stanley Cup, damaging hockey’s most iconic trophy.
Drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft, Aube-Kubel spent his early pro years in the American Hockey League before settling in as an NHL regular. Over the course of his career, he played for the Flyers, Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild.
His NHL totals came to 32 goals and 50 assists for 82 points.
Colorado was where he had the strongest stretch of his career. In 2021-22, Aube-Kubel posted 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 67 games, setting career highs in both goals and assists during the Avalanche’s championship season.
He also appeared in 14 playoff games during that run, finishing with one assist as Colorado beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the franchise’s third Stanley Cup. Across his entire postseason career, Aube-Kubel played 30 games and recorded two goals and one assist for three points.
He was never the headline act, but that was never the point. Aube-Kubel built his career on physical play, competitiveness and filling a bottom-six role, and he did enough to reach the sport’s biggest stage.
Now, after a Stanley Cup ring and a decade-long NHL journey, he looks set to continue his career in the KHL.
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