Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.
That saying applies to Brock Nelson’s career on Long Island and, to an extent, the end of waiting to find out whether and where he would be traded.
Trade Deadline Eve brought a lot of refreshing social media feeds to see a lot of posts from a lot of reporters using a lot of words that say nothing particularly newsworthy or concrete about the Islanders' intentions. As NHL Insider Elliotte Freidman said Thursday evening, “It’s Lou Lamoriello, we’re all guessing.”
We assumed teams had been letting the Islanders know what they would offer if Lamoriello decided to sell in a great seller’s market. We presumed that Lamoriello had been trying to extend Nelson. We surmised (and still do) that Kyle Palmieri is also on the market. Then, at 9:28 PM, Arthur Staple posted in one simple, straightforward sentence, “Sounds like Brock Nelson will be traded by Isles.” and suddenly it all felt for the first time, we were know longer waiting to know what Lamoriello was going to do, we were now waiting for it to happen.
Just before midnight, the Islanders sent Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for the Avs’ top prospect, Calum Ritchie; defenseman Oliver Kylington; a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft; and a conditional third-round pick in 2028. Colorado also acquired William Dufour in the deal, while the Isles later flipped Kylington to Anaheim for future considerations.
It’s being considered a haul. One that meets or even exceeds the hypothetical return the team was capable of receiving, which has been discussed for weeks. Lamoriello did his job and did it well, even if it wasn’t his first choice.
Reports indicate that Nelson turned down a three-year extension, choosing to test his market this summer. Could he still return to Long Island? Maybe, but there will be plenty of other suitors, and the Isles offer will need to come up.
That’s a discussion for another day. The trade (and perhaps others to follow) starts a new chapter in Islanders hockey. Lamoriello landed an NHL-ready top prospect and future assets, and for the first time in a very long time, Islanders fans are excited to find out what could be, and that’s a good thing after years of knowing that this team was good but not good enough.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: For the Islanders to be viewed as mutual winners in any deal that moved the league's top trade target and one of the best post-dynasty era players in franchise history. GM Lou Lamoriello would not only have to return a first-round draft pick but also a top prospect who will be NHL-ready next season. Mission accomplished, as Calum Ritchie fits the bill.
The 20-year-old was the consensus top prospect for the Colorado Avalanche and is on a development trajectory to become a middle-six center with upside. Prospect expert Scott Wheeler ranked Ritchie 12th among all prospects at the 2025 World Juniors, one spot ahead of the Islanders' 2024 first-round pick, Cole Eiserman. "He’s a well-rounded forward with legit puck skill and an NHL release who excels at both center and the wing," wrote Wheeler before the tournament of Ritchie, an assistant captain for Team Canada.
Ritchie has played in seven NHL games this season, with his lone goal coming against the Islanders in the opening minute on Oct. 14th. Drafted 27th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, he has 67 points (14G, 53A) for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) this season. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Avalanche on Jul. 8, 2024.
Trade Conditions
Regarding the draft picks the Islanders received in the trade, if the first-round pick in the 2026 draft is transferred to the Philadelphia Flyers due to the terms of the trade for Sean Walker on March 6, 2024, or it is not transferred but falls in the top 10, then Colorado will send its first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft to New York. For the conditions of the third-round pick in the 2028 draft to be met, the Avalanche need to win the Stanley Cup this season and have Nelson play in at least 50 percent of their playoff games [NHL.com]
⏭ NEXT UP: After the dust settles after the NHL Trade Deadline, the Islanders will play back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks.
📊 STANDINGS:
Prospect Hatty
Islanders 2024 1st round pick (20th overall) Cole Eiserman scored the second hat trick of his “cawlidge hawkey” career and now has 19 goals in 32 games as a freshman for the Boston University Terriers.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Isles have been ahead or tied after two periods in 38 of their 61 games. In the 23 games that they have trailed through 40 minutes (3-19-1), they have been within one goal at some point in all but five of them (10/12 @ DAL, 12/5 vs SEA, 12/17 @ CAR, 12/23 vs BUF, 2/25 vs NYR, 3/3 @ NYR).
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On Mar. 7, 1995, Brett Lindros scored his first NHL goal to break a 1-1 tie at 6:22 of the second period as the Islanders defeated the Hartford Whalers 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. Derek King and Benoit Hogue each scored their fifth goal of the season, and Jamie McLennan made 23 saves in the win.
🔗 The Islanders’ path after the trade deadline will force them to confront who they really want to be by Ethan Sears, NY Post “The Islanders headed to California on Wednesday needing to jump five teams to be in a wild-card spot. They don’t have a path to contending for a Stanley Cup, or at least one where hope doesn’t make up most of the foundation. Nelson and Palmieri are on expiring contracts and could walk out the door for nothing this summer. You know all of this, and you know that nearly every team in every sport that faces a comparable situation becomes a deadline seller.”
🔗 Avalanche land Brock Nelson from Islanders as deadline nears by Greg Wyshynski, ESPN.com “The Nelson trade could be the first of a handful of moves for the Islanders. Winger Kyle Palmieri is on an expiring contract, and there has been speculation the Islanders could also move veterans such as center Jean-Gabriel Pageau.”
And we leave you with this…could Ovi break Gretzky’s record on Long Island?
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Very pleased with this trade. Islanders got 14 years younger with this trade.