Avalanche doubling down on Brock Nelson has paid off this season
While Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar have been key parts of the Colorado Avalanche’s performance through the first half of the 2025-26 season, another veteran has proved to be an important piece to the puzzle.
Forward Brock Nelson came up with a grand effort in the team’s Sunday win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, delivering a hat trick on the road. With that, the 34-year-old sits second on the team in goals with 27 through 50 games, with his 45 points placing him fourth on the Avs’ roster.
Nelson was one of the big additions Colorado made at the trade deadline last season, acquiring him from the New York Islanders for a couple of picks, Oliver Kylington and prospect Cal Ritchie. Then, even when things didn’t pan out for the team in the playoffs, the Avalanche decided to run it back with Nelson, signing him to a three-year contract extension, with an AAV of $7.5 million.
It’s safe to say that early returns have been positive.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Steve Peters discussed how Nelson has been an impact player in Denver since being acquired last year.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I’ll maybe give credit to that front office…I was someone who sat there and said, like, ‘Alright, it didn’t work. Maybe it wasn’t the fit you want.’ They obviously got out of the playoffs earlier than they wanted to. I kind of say, like, ‘Do you really want to double down on this? Just because you gave up a lot to acquire him doesn’t mean you need to be desperate to give him, and they mentioned you gave him $7.5 million.’ I kind of thought, don’t be desperate to give him big money just because you don’t want the trade to look bad. I’ll applaud the front office there in hindsight for, you know, kind of just continuing to believe in him and not panicking because maybe he didn’t fit in as quickly as they would have liked last season.
Steve Peters: I think when we talk about center depth, then I think it’s incredibly important as you approach the playoffs. We’ve talked about that with Edmonton with the one-two punch with Draisaitl and McDavid when they’re both playing up the middle of the ice. I think Brock Nelson gives that level of security in Colorado up the middle, and I think that’s what makes them so dangerous. You look how well they’re playing right now with the number of players they have injured, and they’re still continuing to play like this. Florida wins a Stanley Cup on the back of an experience, Brad Marchand, last year. Brock Nelson could play a very critical role in this playoffs this season. You know the target defensively will be on MacKinnon, and that top line…someone may have to provide that scoring, and it could be Brock Nelson.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…