Comment on Keeler: Avalanche star Valeri Nichushkin’s hat trick left NHL great Kevin Stevens tipping his cap: “I’m pulling for him”

The Broncos and third-round draft pick Jonah Elliss on Tuesday agreed to terms on a four-year rookie contract, a source confirmed to The Denver Post. Elliss, the No. 76 overall  pick, is the sixth of Denver’s seven draft picks to sign his rookie contract. It is slated to be worth $5.87 million and comes with a $1.09 million signing bonus. Elliss, 21, had a terrific junior season at Utah, racking up 12 sacks and 16 tackles for loss in 10 games.

Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question. In your estimation, which Broncos, if any, are the most vulnerable to being cut or traded from now until training camp? – Ed Helinski, Auburn, New York  Hey Ed, good question.

It’s the Holiday season in Denver. The Nuggets’ second-round playoff series has been characterized by a wrinkle in Michael Malone’s rotation: increased bench minutes for 35-year-old Justin Holiday, who was in and out of the lineup throughout the season. Holiday, who signed a one-year deal with Denver at the veteran minimum last July, was a DNPCD (did not play; coach’s decision) 24 times during the regular season.

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was fined $75,000 for making a money gesture with his hands during Game 4 of Minnesota’s playoff series against the Nuggets, the NBA announced Tuesday morning. The league determined that Gobert made an “inappropriate and unprofessional gesture that questions the integrity of the league and its game officials,” according to a news release.

Instant reaction from the Avalanche’s 5-1 loss to Dallas in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series. 1. No mojo = hard road: Whatever the Avs did to you, hockey gods, they’re sorry. Honest. Because it feels as if anything that could go wrong for the ’22 Stanley Cup champs went wrong over about 90 minutes before a critical Game 4 at Ball Arena.

For about 16 minutes Monday night, the shorthanded Colorado Avalanche, buoyed by a sensational start from goalie Alexandar Georgiev and a full-throated Ball Arena crowd, looked capable of pulling off the improbable. Alas, reality set in soon after that. The Dallas Stars took full advantage of an Avalanche team missing both Valeri Nichushkin and Devon Toews, and cruised to a dominant 5-1 victory in Game 4 to take full control of this second-round series and put this once-promising Colorado hockey season on the brink. Dallas will have the first of three chances to knock Colorado out of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night in Game 5 at American Airlines Center. “We looked frozen in the first period.