As we are thoroughly entrenched in the inactivity of the NHL offseason I keep looking towards training camp which is almost on the horizon. As we have reached the middle of August I keep get the same question asked to me, will Brock Nelson be at training camp? I have said since day one not to panic until we reach September 1st. Well, we are quickly approaching that and if I’m Brock I’m getting a deal done.
Just sign the bridge deal, please. I’m honestly not sure what is holding this deal up but Nelson does not have much of a leg to stand on if he is looking for a long term deal or a significant raise. Brock had an outstanding half of season last year. That’s it, a great 40 games then the points dried up. He was a not a liability on the ice but Nelson struggled the final half of the season and was largely ineffective in the playoffs.
Yes I know Nelson scored twice in Game 1 of the Isles series against the Capitals. One goal was an empty net and the other is one that Braden Holtby should have stopped. I’m not discounting the two goals but he was largely invisible beyond that. You can argue that he could he could have been a healthy scratch in either game 6 or7.
I like Nelson. I think he has the potential to be a solid 20 goal, 50 point center consistently in this league. I do think he needs to get stronger and I would love it if he threw his frame around and was more physical.
Nelson can do one of two things. He can bet on himself like Anders Lee did last year and sign a one year deal. He could also sign a nice 2 or 3 year deal with a modest raise. But honestly his agents are nuts if they think the Islanders should commit to Nelson for any longer than 2 or 3 years.
If camp comes around and Nelson isn’t in it then we will have another discussion as to what the future lies for him. Until that happens I don’t want to speculate. I am still confident that a deal will get done it just seems odd that we are mid-August and nobody has heard a peep about a new deal. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.