As the New York Islanders continue into their final stretch of the season, one player who has put together a solid season thus far is Brock Nelson. While Nelson remains very much under the radar, the Minnesota native is on pace for another 35-goal season.

Brock Nelson took a massive jump for the Islanders during last season. In 2022-2023, Nelson put up a career-high 75 points in 82 games, scoring 36 goals and notching 39 assists. Because of Nelson’s stellar play, he was selected to attend his first NHL All-Star Game. Nelson represented the New York Islanders in Sunrise, Florida for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. Nelson continued his run last season as a key player for the Islanders in their playoff matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. While the Islanders ultimately succumbed to the Hurricanes in six games, Nelson and Kyle Palmieri led the offensive production, with each notching five points.

Nelson’s breakout season last year did not come as a surprise to most Islanders fans. Nelson is one of the most underrated goal-scorers in the National Hockey League. During his 11 seasons with the Islanders he has scored over 250 career goals. Although Nelson recorded a career-high in points for the Islanders last season, it was his second consecutive season of recording 35-plus goals. Nelson has scored at least at least 20 goals in a season eight times during his stint as a New York Islander.

Nelson has been the Islanders’ rock throughout his time with the orange and blue. Night in and night out, he consistently shows up and performs regardless of the importance of the game. During the 2019-2020 playoffs, Nelson recorded 18 points in 22 games. The following year, during the 2020-2021 playoffs, Nelson put up 12 points in 19 games. However, with the NHL trade deadline next Friday, March 8, it makes sense for the Islanders to consider trading Brock Nelson.

Currently, Brock Nelson is on pace this season to surpass last season’s performance in goals and overall points. Throughout this season, he has been crucial to the Islanders in pivotal moments. The Islanders’ improved powerplay this season owes a lot of its success to the presence of Nelson on the ice. Although Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal have been vital to the Islanders’ powerplay, Nelson’s shot-first mentality and his ability to draw in defenders make the Islanders challenging to defend against when they have a man advantage. Nelson is currently only one point away from his career high in powerplay points. So, why does that argument exist to trade Brock Nelson next week?

Simply put, Brock Nelson’s current value will never be as high as it is now. At age 32, Nelson is unlikely to continue his current goal and point production into his mid-30s. Moreover, in the summer of 2025, Nelson will become an unrestricted free agent. While Lou Lamoriello, President of Hockey Operations and General Manager for the New York Islanders, has  previously signed players in their 30s to long-term deals, doing so continues to give the Islanders problems competing with younger, more skilled teams. 

Furthermore, the Islanders have one of the worst prospect pools in the NHL. Recently, in an article from The Atheltic, Scott Wheeler ranked all 32 teams’ prospect pools. It was not surprising that the Islanders were ranked dead last. Other rankings that have analyzed teams’ current prospects have all similarly placed the Islanders towards the bottom of NHL teams.

Since Lamoriello began running the ship, the Islanders have consistently approached the trade deadline with a buyer’s mentality. In 2020, the Islanders acquired Jean-Gabriel Pageau. In 2021, when the trade deadline approached, the Islanders acquired Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac from the New Jersey Devils. Last year, before the trade deadline, the Islanders acquired Bo Horvat. These moves arguably made the Islanders a better team and contributed to their success. However, there are also times when a team must sell a player to achieve a better team in the future. The Islanders are at a point where they need to start injecting youth into their lineup. Otherwise, they run the risk of having to endure years as a very bad New York Islanders team until they can rebuild through the draft.

The Islanders should take calls on Brock Nelson and see if they receive an offer that makes sense for the future success of the team.

Featured image courtesy of Ron Chenoy / USA Today

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.