As the start of Islander training camp approaches this Thursday, only one player is not already in Long Island. Brock Nelson’s game of contract chicken continues and he has until 7am on Thursday to be in camp. It wouldn’t be Islander hockey if there isn’t at least one distraction. At this point this is what the Brock Nelson saga has become, a distraction. We all know that the Islanders have had a hard set policy for players without contracts, if you aren’t at the first day of training camp, you do not play with the Islanders for the entire season. We all know how absurd this policy is which was put in place by Islander owner Charles Wang. It is unclear if the new Islander ownership group will have a say in this decision but it appears that everyone is on board within the organization so far.
We all heard Brock Nelson’s agent go into spin mode with Newsday’s Arthur Staple to try and protect his client. This is understandable, an agent is going to protect his client. However, when the player goes 50 games only netting 5 goals after a torrid start to the season, Nelson really does not have a lot of leverage.
The Islanders have offered Brock Nelson a two year contract after Nelson rejected his qualifying offer from the team. I actually understand why Islander General Manager Garth Snow is playing hardball here. Everyone in the organization loves Brock Nelson but they cannot commit to him long term. While I want Brock Nelson on my team, I would not be ready to give him a long term deal yet. Especially when this team has to figure out what to do with pending free agents Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. They will also have to negotiate new contracts with Ryan Strome, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas.
Nelson’s agent believes that Snow’s offer is not good enough and sites some examples around the league as benchmarks. The Wild signed Mikael Granlund for 2 years for 6 million dollars. Montreal signed Alex Galchenyuk for 2 years, 5.6 million. The Senators inked Mika Zibanejad for two years, 5.25 million and Carolina locked up Elias Lindholm for two years totaling 5.4 million.
I like Brock Nelson and I know what his numbers are, but if I had to choose, I would only take Nelson over Granlund. It’s not the Isles fault that the Wild is the land of terrible contracts, but I believe Galchenyuk, Zibanejad and Lindholm are all better players than Nelson.
So what does this mean for Nelson? It appears that Nelson is being advised to not sign the two year deal which is believed to be worth somewhere between 1.75-2 million a year. My advice would be simple. Bet on yourself Brock. Take the path that Anders Lee did. Sign a one year deal and go out and be a beast. You want a five year deal or more money? Go earn it. If Nelson signed a one year deal and put up 50 points, he would get the deal he wants. I firmly believe Lee’s deal is a solid benchmark but that requires Nelson being in camp and on the ice.
Everyone keeps telling me that this deal is going to get done but call me skeptical at this point. I understand both sides of the story, I truly do but at the end of the day, sign a deal and get into camp and prove your worth. The next two days should be interesting but I really hope we are updating this blog reporting a deal. I like Nelson and the last thing we want is a player with so much potential being cast to the sidelines. One way or another the Islanders as a team will be fine. If Nelson sits it only leaves the door open for the likes of Michael Grabner, Kirill Petrov, Steve Bernier or Michael Dal Colle. Someone will emerge, I’m not worried about that. I just want to see Nelson on the ice come Thursday morning. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.