Islanders forward and top trade deadline candidate Brock Nelson remains interested in an extension with New York but was otherwise noncommittal when asked about the subject by Ethan Sears of the New York Post on Tuesday following practice with Team USA ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“There’s a lot of factors that go into [a contract decision],” Nelson said. “I know everybody kind of wants an answer right now. That’s not how the world works. You don’t always get what you want.”
Nelson said that the opportunity retire an Islander, which could result in him becoming the franchise’s all-time games played leader, will be a factor. “Only knowing Long Island, only being an Islander, knowing how much history the team has and the legends that have played there before and what they’ve done plays into it as well.”
Sears references a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on yesterday’s 32 Thoughts podcast that Nelson’s agent, Octagon’s Ben Hankinson, will continue talks with general manager Lou Lamoriello during this month’s downtime while Nelson represents his country. Sources told RG.org last week that the Isles and Nelson had “option for a three-year extension” with a raise over his current $6MM AAV, but a separate report in the same article that the Islanders were beginning to shop around Noah Dobson was scaled back by Friedman yesterday.
Nelson, 33, is undeniably the top center available on the rental market after the Stars snagged Mikael Granlund from the Sharks last month. He’d help the Islanders recoup at least a first-round pick, something they need (even in a weaker 2025 draft) to continue restocking a prospect pool that ranks near the bottom of the league. He’s got 17-18–35 through 55 games, though, down from his 70-point pace over the past couple of years. His 11.6% shooting rate is shy of his career average, but there’s legitimate concern about his aging curve making any multi-year commitment with a raise attached age poorly and inhibit any retooling efforts on Long Island.
The 2010 first-round pick has suited up in 895 regular-season games for the Isles, fifth in franchise history and 228 back of Bryan Trottier for the franchise record. A three-year deal, assuming he stays overwhelming healthy, would get him across the finish line.
But while Nelson has denied speculation recently that him signing with his hometown Wild this summer was all but a formality, the opportunity to join a team deeper into a championship contention window – and one with the superstar scoring talent the Islanders lack – may be too much to turn down. Nelson ranks 13th in Islanders franchise history with 50 points in 78 career postseason appearances, including back-to-back runs to the Eastern Conference Final in 2020 and 2021.
Being both a Brock Nelson, and a lifelong Islander fan it pains me to say that Brock should run and not walk from this team. Grandpa Lou in his seven years here has single handedly destroyed this team from being a consistent playoff contender to a team built to always just come up short and be happy with a middle round draft pick. This team needs to fail and fail miserably so Grandpa Lou will finally be shown the door to the old GM’s home.
The Islanders need to finish at the bottom for a couple of seasons. It’s not pretty but it’s necessary. They need to get some high first round pick Talent. The Rangers did it. The Devils did it. They need a couple of top five overall first round picks. And they have to rebuild their farm system.
It’s Irresponsible for Islanders ownership to even allow an 82 year old any level of decision making.
Coming from a Joel “The Enabler”Quenneville fan…
If he’s set on making a run for the Cup he won’t be re-signing with the isles.
I could not blame Brock Nelson for going somewhere else. He loves the game and he loves to win so if he wants to go take a shot at winning a Stanley Cup, I can’t blame him. Of course if he wants to remain an Islander and play until he can’t play anymore, I’m good with that too.
The only smart thing to do is to trade him – either a first or a prospect & a second; the cupboard is so barren & the team is no-ways a cup contender…