{"id":330347,"date":"2025-12-05T23:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330347\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T23:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:09:08","slug":"what-if-the-islanders-still-had-brock-nelson-on-their-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330347\/","title":{"rendered":"What if the Islanders still had Brock Nelson on their team?"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0What-ifs are a common mental game in the NHL as it\u2019s just human nature to wonder about the path not taken. For instance, how would this season\u2019s Islanders look if Brock Nelson<\/a> had accepted former president\/general manager Lou Lamoriello\u2019s extension offer rather than being traded to the Avalanche in a deal that returned swiftly developing rookie center Cal Ritchie?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always look back,\u201d Bo Horvat told Newsday. \u201cI play that game all the time, for sure. Going back to my Vancouver days, what if this, what if that? That\u2019s another one. What if Brock stayed<\/a>? Everything happens for a reason, that\u2019s the way I look at it. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s happy where he is and we\u2019re happy with where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Islanders open a back-to-back Florida swing for their dads\/mentors\u2019 trip on Saturday night against the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning at Benchmark International Arena after concluding a 3-3-1 homestand with an impressive 6-3 win over Nelson\u2019s Avalanche on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

And if other players such as Horvat tip-toe through the what-if world, Ritchie does not. He\u2019s too busy working to develop into a steady, confident NHL regular, something he\u2019s showing more and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not really,\u201d Ritchie told Newsday. \u201cMy biggest thing is just staying present. I\u2019m enjoying every day here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritchie had an assist in Tuesday\u2019s 2-1 win over the Lightning at UBS Arena<\/a> as his trio with Simon Holmstrom and Anthony Duclair was the Islanders\u2019 best in that particular matchup. The 20-year-old, who quickly earned coach Patrick Roy\u2019s trust defensively after being recalled from the Islanders\u2019 AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on Oct. 31, has two goals and two assists in 18 games.<\/p>\n

His burgeoning confidence in playing with the puck and looking for his shot is readily evident.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure,\u201d Ritchie said. \u201cYour first few games, the game feels pretty fast and you don\u2019t see as many openings. I\u2019m starting to see those plays. See the game a bit slower. I\u2019m trying to make more plays in the neutral zone and making more plays off the rush and not just trying to play it safe. I\u2019m playing with more confidence, trying to produce more, shoot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritchie was a playmaker during his junior hockey career with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League, notching 28 goals and 52 assists in 50 games two seasons ago and 15 goals and 55 assists in 47 games last season after starting the season with a goal \u2013 against the Islanders \u2013 in seven games with the Avalanche.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I have that confidence, it reminds me of when I was in juniors,\u201d said Ritchie, selected 27th overall by the Avalanche in 2023.<\/p>\n

Ritchie is playing well enough as the third-line center now with Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) out the last six games that it brings up another what-if.<\/p>\n

What if, when Pageau returns, Roy feels comfortable enough with Ritchie to elevate him into the top six and move Mathew Barzal back from center to Horvat\u2019s wing as was the plan entering training camp and earlier this season?<\/p>\n

Of course, Barzal\u2019s line with Anders Lee and Max Tsyplakov<\/a> \u2014\u00a0subbing for an injured Jonathan Drouin (lower body) \u2014\u00a0was dominant against the Avalanche. Barzal had a power-play goal and two assists and Lee added a goal and an assist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s up to Patrick,\u201d Barzal told Newsday. \u201cI think my line, to be honest, has been playing great. We\u2019ll see. Things are going well. Ritchie\u2019s line is playing great, a nice third line. It\u2019s a good thing to have options like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Nelson trade on March 6, which also yielded a first- and third-round pick and is shaping up as a win-win for both franchises, what if it hadn\u2019t been made? Nelson accepted the same three-year, $22.5 million deal from the Avalanche this offseason that Lamoriello is believed to have offered him.<\/p>\n

Obviously, Ritchie wouldn\u2019t be an Islander. And with Nelson\u2019s $7.5 million counting against the Islanders\u2019 salary cap, first-year GM Mathieu Darche would not have been able to sign Drouin to a two-year, $8 million deal.<\/p>\n

Drouin, who has three goals and 12 assists in 26 games, has meshed well with Barzal and been a solid top-six performer, including on the power play.<\/p>\n

And perhaps Darche might not have been able to afford Russian rookie Max Shabanov (three goals, six assists in 16 games) to a one-year, $975,000 deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be maybe in the position we are right now with the guys we have,\u201d Horvat said. \u201cEverything happens for a reason and I\u2019m just glad it\u2019s working out both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John\u2019s and MLB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0What-ifs are a common mental game in the NHL as it\u2019s just human nature to wonder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,5791,575,39994,85],"class_list":["post-330347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-oin","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}