NHL Insider may have just confirmed Brock Nelson's future with the Colorado Avalanche
It appears that the Colorado Avalanche are hesitant to sign recently acquired center Brock Nelson as his production has not been what the team has expected.
It was reported that the second line centre has had uneven play and has not shot the puck as often as he's only so shot 17 times in 12 games.
Bednar feels Nelson has more to give offensively
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar feels that Nelson has more to offer offensively despite having excellent defensive metrics.
"I think he's got more yet that he can give us," Jared Bednar said Tuesday. "All of his defensive metrics look really good. ... But I think his growth is going to come on the offensive side of it. I don't think we've seen what he can do on the offensive side of it just yet. We've seen it in flashes." Jared Bednar
His tenure with the team, he's scored three goals with six assists for 9 points and is a + 7 while playing 16 minutes and 55 seconds of average ice time. That is a 3-minute drop compared to his other numbers coming from the New York Islanders where he played 19 minutes and 21 seconds.
Avalanche evaluating whether to re-sign him to a new deal
With Nelson's production dropping, the avalanche is evaluating whether to re sign him to a new contract or allow him to walk to free agency. Nelson will be 34 years old when the new season begins and earlier this year, he had turned down a three-year deal worth $22.5 million from the Islanders.
As for the free agency market, there will be limited quality talent when it comes to centers as pending Unrestricted free agent Sam Bennett will be leading the charge.
The Avalanche may face the possibility that they have no choice but to offer him a
contract, but it remains to be seen on what he is looking for.
contract, but it remains to be seen on what he is looking for.
The Avalanche will be going for it this year as they only have two draft picks for 2025 and no top three draft picks for 2026 as the team has decided that this year will be a make-or-break season.
It will be an interesting time for the avalanche this summer as the team will be reconfigured especially with the loss of Mikko Rantanen and the team only having $8.7 million in cap space.
Source: The Denver Gazette
Brock Nelson's future with Avalanche and evaluating Jared Bednar's season | Evan's mailbag
Brock Nelson's future with Avalanche and evaluating Jared Bednar's season | Evan's mailbag
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 4 | 84 ANSWERS NHL Insider may have just confirmed Brock Nelson's future with the Colorado Avalanche Should the Avalanche re-sign Brock Nelson to a contract extension this summer? | ||
| Yes | 70 | 83.3 % |
| No | 14 | 16.7 % |
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