It’s rare for notable players to make it to the opening day of free agency. And it was no different for the Avalanche’s trade deadline rental and No. 2 centerman Brock Nelson.
But before the 33-year-old signed an extension with the Avs, the temptation was there. What kind of offers would be awaiting a centerman in high demand on July 1?
“You’d be a liar if you said you didn’t think of a lot of different situations,” Nelson said on Monday ahead of the Avs’ annual charity golf classic.
Nelson was acquired on March 6 in a high-priced deal that sent top prospect Calum Ritchie and a first-round draft pick to the Islanders. He became the latest in a long list of second-line centers the team has desperately tried to fit into the lineup since Nazem Kadri’s departure.
As a longtime veteran of the league, he fit right in with the core group.
“I think there’s no better place to want to win now, with the guys that are here, the talent that’s here, the commitment to winning,” Nelson said. “From players on up, is as good as it gets. So from a player standpoint, you can’t ask for a better spot.”
His contract extension signed in early June, will carry a $7.5 million AAV for the next three seasons. This comes after a solid showing in the regular season following the trade, posting 13 points in 19 games with Colorado. But like many of his teammates, his playoffs left more to be desired.
The Game 7 loss to Dallas was heartbreaking for an Avalanche roster that felt they could’ve won it all. The “unfinished business” mindset played in part in Nelson deciding to stay. He didn’t want to be a playoff rental and leave on a sour note.
“I thought we should have gone further over the spring,” Nelson said, before looking ahead to an exciting season as, yet again, a team with high expectations. “The talent, the group, what we have ahead of us, I think, the sky’s the limit.
“So wanting to come back and be a little bit more better yourself, and kind of get the group over that hump, and get back to winning. I think it’s everyone’s goal.”
It’s well documented that Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews and Nelson were teammates on Long Island. Toews bothered Nelson pretty often early in the offseason about re-signing. He wanted his friend to stick around. The two are actually now locker stall buddies in the slightly revamped dressing room at the practice facility.
But Nelson also has familiarity with another new face.
After the Avs’ loss to Dallas, assistant coach and the head of the power-play Ray Bennett was let go following a disappointing man-advantage showing in the playoffs.
His replacement? Dave Hakstol. A former head coach in the NHL who got his start at the college ranks as head coach of North Dakota for 11 years. During that time, Hakstol coached Nelson for two seasons before the 2010 first-round pick made the leap to join the Islanders.
“He was a solid presence, intimidating guy, a detailed guy,” Nelson said of Colorado’s new PP coach on Jared Bednar’s staff.
Hakstol was an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs in between head coaching jobs in Philadelphia and Seattle. But Nelson isn’t too worried about the assistant tag taking away from Hakstol’s character.
“He was one of those guys that when you’re coming in at school, you looked up to him as a little bit of like a mentor, afraid of him in a way, you want to play your best for him,” Nelson said. “He found a way to kind of get the best out of everybody and manage different personalities.
“I know his drive to win as high as it gets, so that’s a nice addition.”
Familiarity on the ice will help Nelson in his first full season with the club. But so will comfortability off of it.
This was the first time Nelson had been traded in his career. He spent 15 years as part of the Islanders organization and probably thought, at times, that he’d retire there. But the trade brought about a new challenge.
When Nelson arrived in the spring, he left his wife and kids behind in New York. He adjusted to a new team, a new system, a new city, and new expectations all on his own. It might not always show on the ice, but those changes can affect a player.
That won’t be an issue anymore.
“We were able to move out here in early August, get the kids into school and kind of get into the routine to have them around, just kind of living their life, which is the new normal,” Nelson said. “It’s still an adjustment and a change, but to get acclimated to that I think will definitely help.
“And for me, just having the family taken care of, they’re here. You’re with them all the time. I think that it changes things a little bit for me performance-wise.”
