LAS VEGAS — If the Islanders were a different kind of team, run in a different way, when the NHL gathers in Las Vegas for the draft, everyone will be asking: “Who trades Brock Nelson?”
Here are the facts: The Islanders finished last season with 39 wins, 27 losses and 16 ties, losing in the first round for the second straight year.
It was the first time in three seasons that they have won a playoff round.
Nelson is in the final year of his contract and will turn 33 in October, making him a valuable trade player as a player who scores 30 goals per year.
That much is obvious to most front offices around the league.
The Islanders front office is anything but normal.
This doesn’t completely rule out a move, as that certainly can’t happen with Lou Lamoriello at the helm.
But with the league’s busy season about to begin, it’s notable that Nelson’s name isn’t mentioned alongside players like Mitch Marner, Martin Necas and Nikolaj Ehlers as players the team must make decisions about sooner rather than later.
A decision on Nelson doesn’t have to be made by the Islanders between now and July 4 — in fact, a trade or extension would be a bit of a surprise within the next week — but what does or doesn’t happen here will be instructive about how much change Lamoriello, who has vowed not to rule anything out, plans to make this summer.
Signing an extension for Nelson at this stage in his career would signal that while the Islanders’ lineup may be different next year, it’s unlikely any drastic changes are likely to happen here, or in any real sense in the near future.
If the Islanders want to dismantle this core and revamp their locker room, there’s no easier way to do it than trading players over 30 and with expiring contracts (though Nelson has a 16-team no-trade clause).
No matter how good Nelson is — and he’s been great with the Islanders for 11 seasons, with the best years of his career coming over the past three — there’s no denying that an extension, even for a short period of time, would likely put off a big change.
That’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing — you could make a strong case that the Islanders could get to where they want to be with a full season of Patrick Roy, a return of Ilya Sorokin and some minor roster tweaks — but if you’re looking for a sign of direction, this would be it.
Nelson, meanwhile, was hesitant about contract issues earlier in the summer but sounded like he wanted to remain with the Islanders on breakup day.
“This is all I know. I love living here on the island, I love my family, I love this group,” he said. “I know things can’t always stay the same, but whatever happens, I’m not really thinking about an extension, an early extension or not.”
If the Islanders want to remain competitive for as long as possible, the path of least resistance would be to postpone.
We’ll have to wait and see how the offseason goes, how things go once Roy gets to run training camp, and whether Sorokin can turn things around.
Nelson could be a valuable asset at the trade deadline if the situation dictates a move is prudent, but the Islanders will be hoping that isn’t the case.
There are risks to waiting — the possibility of injury, the possibility of a drop in performance, the obvious fact that a one-year rental is worth more than a half-season rental — but the Islanders aren’t trying to tell fans they should give up on this season before it even begins.
Trading Nelson would be a risk depending on what’s offered in return, and team brass made it clear how highly they valued the No. 29 player by adding an “A” to his jersey last year.
If the Islanders were a different team under different circumstances, this would have been a different story.
But they aren’t, and neither is this.
