Rangers archrival finally gets it, throws in towel with Brock Nelson trade
The New York Rangers won’t have to worry about facing Brock Nelson when they visit the New York Islanders on April 10.
Isles GM Lou Lamoriello threw in the towel on his team’s slim playoff hopes late Thursday, trading the much sought-after center and minor-league forward William Dufour to the Colorado Avalanche for 20-year-old forward Calum Ritchie, a first-round selection in the 2026 or 2027 NHL Draft, a conditional third-round pick in the 2028 draft, and defenseman Oliver Kylington. The Islanders quickly wheeled Kylington to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations.
New York reportedly retained 50 percent of Nelson’s cap hit. The 33-year-old is in the final season of a five-year contract that has an average annual value of $6 million and can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Reports say he turned down a three-year contract with an AAV of more than $7.5 million, spurring the move.
The Islanders (28-26-7) began Friday four points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. But unlike last season, when a late-season surge carried them into the playoffs because so many teams in the East were dreadful, this time there are four clubs, including the Rangers, between the Islanders and that last playoff berth. The Islanders, who begin a three-game California trip against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, are also without their most dynamic forward, Mathew Barzal, who hasn’t played since Feb. 1 and recently had surgery on his left kneecap.
The Rangers (31-26-5) and Ottawa Senators (31-25-5) are tied in points for the second wild card with 67 entering their showdown at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday afternoon; however, the Senators have a game in hand.
The Islanders’ first-round pick (No. 30) of the 2010 draft, has been the subject of trade rumors for weeks before Lamoriello pulled the trigger. However, the Hall of Fame GM opted to keep two other players widely regarded as trade possibilities — impending UFA forward Kyle Palmieri and center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who is signed through 2025-26.
Nelson is fourth in Islanders history with 901 games played and fifth with 295 goals. He has 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists) this season despite a 17-game goal drought after three straight seasons of 34+ goals and should fit in well with Colorado’s highly skilled top-six forward group — likely as the No. 2 center behind NHL scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon. He can also play wing, as he did for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off last month.
“On most of the trade boards I watched, he was the top guy available,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Friday. “Centers are hard to find, and he’s a real good one.”
Brock Nelson joins two former Rangers looking to help Avalanche win Stanley Cup
Nelson was the First Star on Tuesday, when the Islanders defeated the League-leading Winnipeg Jets 3-2 at UBS Arena. The 12-year veteran got teary-eyed in a post-game interview when asked what playing on Long Island meant to him. As it turned out, that was his last game in blue and orange.
“I’ve had conversations with Lou [Lamoriello] and I’ve been honest,” Nelson said after that game. “I really, truly, have been worried about here and playing and doing everything we can to win.”
Nelson is a reliable player at both ends of the ice, a trait that Bednar is delighted to add to his team, which owns the first wild card in the Western Conference and is even in points with the Minnesota Wild for third place in the Central Division after a 7-3 win against San Jose at Ball Arena on Thursday. He’s expected to make his debut with the Avs (37-24-2) when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
“He’s always been a trusted 200-foot player,” Bednar said. “If you look at his history, he’s scoring 30+ goals most years, too. To get a player of that caliber is hard to do — and yeah, I think it’s an amazing add for our team.”
Just this past Saturday, the Avalanche made a trade with the Rangers to acquire two other veterans on expiring contracts, pending UFA defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey. Lindgren drew praise from Bednar after his Avalanche debut on Tuesday.
Lindgren is averaging just under 21 minutes TOI in two games with Colorado. Vesey made his Avalanche debut in the win against the Sharks on Thursday and was minus-1 playing a bit more than 13 minutes.
Though first-round picks are nice to have, especially for a team that looks like it’s starting a rebuild, the key to the deal for the Islanders may be Ritchie, a big (6-foot-2, 190 pounds), skilled, smart center who’s on course for his second straight 80-point season in the Ontario Hockey League. He scored one goal – against the Islanders on Oct. 14 – in seven games at the start of the season before being returned to Oshawa of the OHL, where he has a team-leading 67 points (14 goals, 53 assists) and is plus-33 in 41 games.
He is known for his hockey IQ, playmaking ability, on-ice vision, and footwork — and he’s still filling out physically.
Ritchie, an alternate captain for Canada at the 2025 World Junior Championship, was Colorado’s first-round pick (No. 27) in the 2023 draft and was regarded as the top Avalanche prospect. He could eventually end up paired with Cole Eiserman, the Isles’ top pick in the 2024 draft, who has 19 goals in 32 games as a freshman for Boston University and helped Team USA win the World Juniors.
For now, Ritchie is likely to stay with Oshawa, which has already clinched an OHL playoff berth. But expect him to contend for a spot on the Islanders at training camp this fall.
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