The one who got away: Avalanche’s Brock Nelson haunts Wild right when they needed him most

DENVER – Oh boy, what would the Minnesota Wild give to have Brock Nelson on their crew right now?

With Joel Eriksson Ek sidelined till not less than Game 3 in opposition to Nelson’s Colorado Avalanche, the outlet within the lineup that Nelson as soon as was a candidate to fill is very large.

It’s no secret how a lot admiration and appreciation Wild normal supervisor and president of hockey operations Bill Guerin has for the Avs veteran heart.

As normal supervisor of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off and Olympics, Guerin confronted scrutiny over choosing Nelson to the roster, together with function gamers equivalent to Vincent Trocheck and JT Miller, over the Jason Robertsons and Cole Caufields of the world. But he caught to his convictions, and Nelson helped convey house a gold medal.

There was zero doubt that Guerin and the Wild, perennially attempting to enhance the middle place, would have gone exhausting after the Warroad, Minn., native and Twin Cities resident as a free agent final July 1 had Nelson not fallen so in love with Colorado after being traded there by the New York Islanders. He determined to not go to market and as a substitute re-signed for $22.5 million over three years.

“You can’t fault guys for making their own decisions or holding that against them,” Guerin advised TheAthletic the morning of Game 1, an eventual 9-6 Avs victory. “In my eyes, he was a shoo-in for the Olympic team regardless of staying with Colorado. I mean, we were extremely excited to have him on the Olympic team.

“To me, the man’s a professional’s professional. You know when you say you simply ‘get it’? Brock simply will get it. That’s as a human being and knowledgeable. When you take a look at his sport, in the event you ever go right into a cutlery retailer and see these large Swiss Army knives that no person ever buys, that is Brock’s sport. He’s got each instrument within the bag, and he can play any scenario, any place, at any time, and he can play it effectively.

“There would have been a ton of teams after him, and we definitely would have been one of them.”

Nelson heard the rumors that his hometown crew was getting ready to return after him exhausting on July 1. But who might fault him for wanting to remain in Denver? He and his household like it there, and the Avalanche are a legit Stanley Cup contender.

That’s exhausting to show down, even when the Wild could have supplied extra money and time period.

“I think there’s a couple teams that would have maybe been in the mix, but getting a taste of it here — the group, the lifestyle, kind of a little bit of everything — it just seemed like a pretty good fit,” Nelson mentioned. “It didn’t even really come close to the UFA period, where you really look to explore different options. I mean, even before the (trade) deadline, I thought maybe Minnesota was gonna be in the mix — just kind of reading different things here and there.

“You never really know how it’s going to shake out, but I landed here, and we’ve loved it here.”

The fit has been perfect on the Avs’ side, too, as Nelson looks to be aging well. At 34, he finished third on the Avalanche with 33 goals, fourth with 65 points and third in the NHL with nine game winners. He’s elite defensively and will likely get Selke Trophy votes (finalists will be announced Wednesday).

Not to mention, he also became the third generation of his family to win an Olympic gold medal, scoring two goals and playing on a perfect penalty kill in Milan. Grandpa Bill Christian won in 1960, and Uncle Dave Christian won in 1980.

None of these surprises Nelson’s younger brother, Blayke.

“I grew up with him taking part in golf, and I do not assume there was ever a 12 months the place he’d leveled off,” said Blayke, 30. “Golf, hockey, ground hockey, baseball, yearly at all times got higher, and that is simply his nature. He’s a competitor, and he takes tremendous excellent care of himself, and he is aware of what he is got to do to remain on the prime of his sport. So I believe simply speaking to him a bit of bit about that, he isn’t afraid to strive new issues and determine what is going on to work finest for him.

“It’s just kind of exciting to see where he’s at right now. And as a younger brother, it’s fun to look up to him, and it’s fun to watch him. If you’ve got gray hair (as both Blayke and Brock do), the age-old tale is you’re pretty wise. And he’s one of the wisest people I’ve ever known, and he’s super witty, too. I think I got him on the gray hair look, and I’m four years younger, and I’m curious to see what his playoff beard looks like. Hopefully, they go deep and I get to see.”

Bill Christian is currently writing a book titled “Hockey for a Lifetime.” He paused the book so he could add memories of watching his grandson represent the US in Milan. The outcome makes for a perfect ending.

“He wrote an epilogue chapter about all the emotions he felt watching Brock go through it,” Blayke said. “It’s actually fascinating to simply speak via with my grandpa and get his perspective on it. Because, for me, it is exhausting to consider. For him, it is the third time he is gone via it.”

Last offseason, after the Avs were knocked out of the first round by the Dallas Stars, Blayke said he didn’t have a conversation with his brother about free agency. I have heard the Wild rumors and often got bugged for intel by friends who are die-hard fans.

But Blayke never bothered Brock with the question. In fact, he only got a half-hour heads-up from Brock in early June that he was re-signing with Colorado.

“I try not to talk hockey with him at all in the summer because that’s his life and that’s his job,” Blayke said. “I assumed it could’ve been fairly cool if he signed with the Wild. We all did. Our associates saved asking, and I saved telling them, ‘I do not know,’ as a result of I did not. But truthfully, I simply know that he needed to compete and needed to win. So he needed to do what was finest for him and his household. I do know they like it out in Colorado.”

As Guerin said, Nelson is a jack of all trades. We saw that at the Olympics. He’s a high-end power-play producer and top-six centerman but accepted his role on the penalty kill with pride and started off the tournament on the fourth line.

He took an inadvertent stick to his face in the Germany game and sustained a facial fracture, but instead of missing action, he threw on a bubble and played the rest of the tournament.

Nelson heard the flak Guerin was getting to take him to Milan over stars with bigger numbers, so there’s also a pride in the fact that he did his job so well.

“It’s always going to be scrutinized no matter which way you go until you get the result that you did,” Nelson said. “I believe everybody most likely commends (Guerin) for what he did. And I assumed he did an awesome job. And yeah, the particular groups, PK, ran by (Wild coach John Hynes) … single elimination, particular groups, you possibly can win video games and lose video games on it.

“We had to kind of do that in a couple big ones there — we had success in five-on-three and in different situations — so a ton of guys over there just had a ton of pride and heart. Willing to kind of do whatever it takes. I think obviously that helped with getting the result that we did.”

Guerin mentioned identical to there was by no means part of him that he thought he ought to put Robertson on the crew just because the Wild have been prone to play Dallas within the first spherical, he by no means thought for one second about not placing Nelson on the crew as a result of he “snubbed” the Wild’s doubtless name on free-agent day.

“The guy breaks his face at the Olympics, puts on a bubble and barely misses a shift,” Guerin mentioned. “Heckuva hockey player. He should be proud of the way he played.”

Added Blayke, “One of my favorite things about that whole situation is just the penalty kill for the US and the fact that they were 18-for-18 over all the games. The guys that did it were my brother and the guys that everybody had questioned.”

Hynes, a US assistant coach, particularly gained a brand new respect for Nelson on the occasions.

“Nelly’s a heck of a player,” Hynes mentioned. “He’s a great human being. He’s a great guy, No. 1. Great family. But having the opportunity to work with him in both those tournaments, he’s such a really good player. Smart. Played whatever role. Highly competitive. Can play wing, center, special teams. … He’s unbelievable on the power play, and didn’t play a shift on the power play 4 Nations or the Olympics, but he was a penalty killer and dug into that and did a great job.”

Added Wild defenseman and US teammate Quinn Hughes, “He can skate. Competitive. Was great on the PK. Kind of can play in any role. I thought him and (my brother) Jack (Hughes) were great together. He’s long. He’s rangy. He’s hard to beat.

“That’s why (the Avs are) so good. They’ve got guys like that throughout the lineup. I do know he will convey his sport.”

If the Wild had gone after Nelson, though, would it have precluded them from getting Hughes? Not the case. Minnesota likely would not have needed to trade for Vladimir Tarasenko and sign Nico Sturm, so they would have had plenty of cap space to sign Nelson and still trade for Hughes.

“We would have figured out a way to get it done,” Guerin said. “We would have done anything to get Quinn…within reason.”

The Wild will host Games 3 and 4 in Minnesota on Saturday and Monday, so expect the Nelson clan to make their way down from Warroad. They’re conflicted, of course, but Brock’s going to have plenty of support in an arena in which he played lots of games in high school (Warroad) and college (North Dakota), not to mention as a pro with the Islanders and Avs.

“A lot of people back home I know are die-hard Minnesota fans,” Nelson said. “It’s an awesome place rising up that helps the crew there extraordinarily effectively. So I’ll most likely put quite a lot of friendships on pause for now.

“I hope to have a few more people on my side. But I know at the end of the day, you can’t be a fan of all the same teams. Hopefully, we get the bragging rights at the end.”