Avalanche center Brock Nelson on Islanders reunion at Ball Arena: ‘It will be weird’

For the better part of a dozen years Brock Nelson would cue up video of the New York Islanders and watch himself move around the ice That s the weirdest part for him now When he tunes in to check out his old pals or catches Islanders highlights that s not him when No makes something happen It s going to be an stimulating weekend for Nelson and a different kind of Sunday night at Ball Arena The guy who used to wear No for the Islanders will play against them for the first time since being traded to the Avalanche The guy who used to play here Jonathan Drouin is now the guy wearing No for his old club Yeah Drouin texted me just to see if it was OK Nelson stated It is funny there s a couple times where I watch their games and that just looks funny Anytime I watched video for years I was just so programmed to be like OK there I am It s weird to see somebody else out there He s a great guy great participant and it s just a number I stated him I d never tell him not to wear the number I m not there Go ahead But I appreciate him even thinking that he had to reach out Nelson was a marquee addition ahead of the NHL exchange deadline for the Avs He became the biggest move of the offseason as well when the club kept him in Denver with a three-year million contract ahead of him reaching the free-agent area It s been a pretty seamless fit with the Avalanche He was already friends with Devon Toews from their days together on Long Island He had an off-ice workout connection with Nathan MacKinnon Now Nelson will get the first of two reminders of his previous life in rapid succession The Avs play Sunday at home against the Islanders and then advance to Long Island for the return match in less than three weeks It will be fun to see those guys Nelson mentioned There s a lot of them I haven t seen since the agreement I ve talked to a lot of them It will be weird It will be different Hopefully I ll see a limited of them the day before and catch up a little bit But I m glad it s here first and I get to see them before going there The last time Nelson played at UBS Arena he was named the No star of the match His on-the-bench postgame interview was an emotional one for him and Islanders fans Everyone involved knew a commerce was imminent I ve never really gone through anything like that Nelson announced You see guys going back after long stints and it can be emotional So yeah I think it would be tough if we were going back first It will be nice to get through this one just to kind of see them I m sure there will be a couple of laughs a couple funny chirps going back and forth Just several good banter Toews wasn t with the Islanders for as long but it was the organization that drafted him He went through a similar situation getting traded to Colorado trying to find his place on a band with high expectations and settling into a entirely new NHL conditions for the first time Through Toews eyes Nelson s transition is going well He s playing great Toews announced He s not a guy that s ever going to dwell on stats and things like that He s been a positive contributor to our gang That s what he necessities to be Points will come when they come He s been a great addition to our penalty kill He s a great faceoff guy which I knew from my time with him in New York He s finding techniques to contribute in different tactics When you bring in guys like that it raises your standard for your structure and your detail in your battle That s sometimes lacking with younger guys guys that are still learning and finding their way Those veteran guys help with those details and then help the young guys as well making sure they re doing the right things and are in the right places instead of just being hyper focused on producing offense Nelson has been the No center since the day he arrived There was no question about the role he would play which helps Having guys like Toews and MacKinnon in his corner from day one also helped The offensive numbers have not matched his days on Long Island to this point He had a mid-career renaissance from - scoring at least goals and points in each of those three seasons In games with the Avs he has goals and points This year it s four goals and seven points in games The one part of his role that is different is the offensive expectations The Avs don t need Nelson to total -plus goals and drive the offense on a consistent basis to be effective New York needed him to raise the group s ceiling In Denver he has helped raise the Avs floor If you look at his analytics and underlying numbers they re all good Avs coach Jared Bednar commented He s a really smart really well-rounded -foot participant From my tally he s fourth on the gang in scoring chances He hasn t scored easily so far but he s right there tied with Val and his defensive metrics have been good It s just about trying to give him more shooting opportunities Part of it is just the steadiness of his challenge and doing the right thing all the time Nelson was a fixture in the Islanders core for years but life changes speedily in the NHL Calum Ritchie who was part of the Avs package to get Nelson will be on the other side and could be a key part of the Isles future Trading Nelson was part of a reset which was turbo-boosted when the Islanders won the draft lottery and landed defensive wunderkind Matthew Schaefer with the No pick in the NHL draft Drouin is helping to replace specific of the offense the club lost when it traded Nelson Schaefer looks like a runaway Calder Trophy winner and has changed the long-term outlook for the franchise Nelson was part of the group that helped the Islanders reach back-to-back conference finals the best stretch of success the franchise has had since the early s when it ruled the NHL He expects to have a chance to reminisce about those days Saturday night with his old friends and then try and beat them Sunday night He s also looking forward to the meeting back there in a couple of weeks His wife and kids are going to make the trip They ve got a couple of old stomping grounds spots lined up and plenty of friends to catch up with Sometimes I think back to my routine there and how programmed I was how I knew everything about the surroundings Nelson stated There are times where it feels like you re still kind of feeling it out here settling in But there are also times where it feels like I ve been here forever Crazy to think it was years there It feels like it went by in a blink of an eye But the more you think about it and you expand the picture you think about the life things that happened kids family all that stuff just the friends we met there and I feel fortunate for the time I had there Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis