Brock Nelson scored 295 goals over 901 games for the New York Islanders, but the center is now wearing a Colorado Avalanche sweater.
Nelson will face the team he spent 11-plus seasons with when New York visits Denver to face surging Colorado on Sunday night.
Nelson was the most-coveted center at last year’s trade deadline and the Avalanche pulled off the deal to bring him to Colorado. He was re-signed in the offseason and is a mainstay on the second line for a team that has won five in a row and seven of its last eight.
Nelson hasn’t put up eye-popping offensive numbers — he has four goals and three assists — but the Avalanche’s depth hasn’t made that necessary. Nathan MacKinnon is the leading scorer in the NHL with 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists), Cale Makar tops all defensemen with 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) and Martin Necas also has 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists).
Colorado is without winger Valeri Nichushkin, who is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, but rookie Gavin Brindley has played well replacing him on the second line. Brindley had a goal and an assist in his first game playing with Nelson and Ross Colton on Thursday night.
That came two games after he scored an overtime goal against Vancouver on Sunday. Brindley, whose father shares a hometown with Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (Thunder Bay, Ontario), has four goals and three assists this season.
“He’s played amazing,” Blackwood said. “I’m very impressed with him. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s got a little Thunder Bay in him.”
Nelson isn’t the only one facing a former team. Islanders head coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy spent seven-plus seasons in Colorado and backstopped two of the franchise’s three Stanley Cup titles, and Jonathan Drouin played the last two seasons with the Avalanche before signing a two-year, $8 million deal with New York.
“I’m excited. I had a great time in Colorado,” Drouin said. “Everyone was great with me, from the fans, my teammates, the staff. So, I enjoyed my two years there, but I’m loving New York so far. It’s been great.”
Drouin is fourth on the Islanders in scoring with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) and has impressed Roy with his overall game.
“Very impressed with him,” Roy said of Drouin’s two-way contributions. “His 200-feet game has been really good for us. He’s playing well defensively.”
So has 18-year-old Matthew Schaefer, who is second on the team in scoring with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) and became the youngest player to score a regular-season overtime goal in New York’s 3-2 win at Utah on Friday night.
Bo Horvat leads the Islanders with 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) and Mathew Barzal also has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists).
New York has won the first four games on this season-long seven-game road trip and has recovered from losing its first three games of the season. The Islanders’ last three wins have come in overtime.
