Should the Avalanche resign Brock Nelson again?
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When the Avalanche acquired Brock Nelson in March, they arguably paid a steep price to land the top centre available at the time.
Likely needing to outmatch competing offers, Colorado went all in by sending prized prospect Calum Ritchie and a 2026 first-round pick to the Islanders in exchange for Nelson.
Should the Avalanche resign Brock Nelson this summer?
It's the kind of bold move teams make when they're chasing a Stanley Cup, but it didn't come without significant risk, writes Aarif Deen from Colorado Hockey Now.
"Nelson's time with the Avs didn't go as planned. Did he play well? In a sense, yes. He was finding his groove in the regular season and started to look like a fit as the playoffs began. Unfortunately, he was one of a handful of Avs who couldn't find the back of the net in the seven-game series loss. And the expected long playoff run lasted less than two weeks." -Deen
Now, Nelson and the Avalanche find themselves at a pivotal moment. From Nelson's perspective, the idea of returning to a talented lineup might be appealing, especially with the opportunity to skate alongside Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin, which could be a strong incentive to stay.
"If you're Colorado, do you want to give it another run with the 33-year-old? More importantly, do you feel Nelson is the best fit? Or is there another option in free agency or via trade that you think could do better?" -Deen
The last thing I want to see is management re-sign Nelson just because he's the convenient choice. He's already on the roster, and the team gave up significant assets to get him, but that doesn't mean they should double down on a player who may not have been the best fit in the first place.
Nelson put up 56 points over 80 games last season split between the Islanders and Avalanche, but he still feels like someone who could top 60 points with this group. Plus, his durability is a real asset, he's consistently available, which is something the Avs could definitely use.
When it comes to the cap hit, anything north of $7 million feels hard to justify given the Avalanche's current salary constraints. That said, it's tough to gauge without knowing how the market will shift, this offseason brings the first significant cap increase in over five years.
"I still believe this is the more likely scenario. If the Avs had gone on a longer run this year and fallen short of their goal, I could see Nelson returning to give it another go. But, how much of an emotional attachment, if at all, does he have to this team?" -Deen
The benchmark for player value is likely to change, so maybe I'm undervaluing Nelson. Only time will tell.
| POLL | ||
MAI 15 | 11 ANSWERS Should the Avalanche resign Brock Nelson again? Do you think the Avalanche will resign forward Brock Nelson this offseason? | ||
| yes | 7 | 63.6 % |
| no | 4 | 36.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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