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

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

With Joel Eriksson Ek sidelined until at least Game 3 against Nelson’s Colorado Avalanche, the hole in the lineup that Nelson once was a candidate to fill is massive.

It’s no secret how much admiration and appreciation Wild general manager and president of hockey operations Bill Guerin has for the Avs veteran center.

As general manager of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off and Olympics, Guerin faced scrutiny over selecting Nelson to the roster, along with role players such as Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, over the Jason Robertsons and Cole Caufields of the world. But he stuck to his convictions, and Nelson helped bring home a gold medal.

There was zero doubt that Guerin and the Wild, perennially trying to upgrade the center position, would have gone hard after the Warroad, Minn., native and Twin Cities resident as a free agent last July 1 had Nelson not fallen so in love with Colorado after being traded there by the New York Islanders. He decided not to go to market and instead re-signed for $22.5 million over three years.

“You can’t fault guys for making their own decisions or hold that against them,” Guerin told The Athletic 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 guy’s a pro’s pro. You know when you say you just ‘get it’? Brock just gets it. That’s as a human being and a professional. When you look at his game, if you ever go into a cutlery store and see those giant Swiss Army knives that nobody ever buys, that’s Brock’s game. He’s got every tool in the bag, and he can play any situation, any position, at any time, and he can play it well.

“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 team was preparing to come after him hard on July 1. But who could fault him for wanting to stay in Denver? He and his family love it there, and the Avalanche are a legit Stanley Cup contender.

That’s hard to turn down, even if the Wild may have offered more money and term.

“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,” said Nelson. “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 this surprises Nelson’s younger brother, Blayke.

“I grew up with him playing golf, and I don’t think there was ever a year where he’d leveled off,” said Blayke, 30. “Golf, hockey, floor hockey, baseball, every year always got better, and that’s just his nature. He’s a competitor, and he takes super good care of himself, and he knows what he’s got to do to stay at the top of his game. So I think just talking with him a little bit about that, he’s not afraid to try new things and figure out what’s going to work best 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 aspect, 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 U.S. 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 really interesting to just talk through with my grandpa and get his perspective on it. Because, for me, it’s hard to believe. For him, it’s the third time he’s went through it.”

Last offseason, after the Avs were knocked out of the first round by the Dallas Stars, Blayke said he didn’t have one conversation with his brother about free agency. He 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 thought it would’ve been pretty cool if he signed with the Wild. We all did. Our friends kept asking, and I kept telling them, ‘I have no idea,’ because I didn’t. But honestly, I just know that he wanted to compete and wanted to win. So he wanted to do what was best for him and his family. I know they love 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 for taking 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 think everyone probably commends (Guerin) for what he did. And I thought he did a great job. And yeah, the special teams, PK, ran by (Wild coach John Hynes) … single elimination, special teams, you can win games and lose 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 said just like there was never a part of him that thought he should put Robertson on the team simply because the Wild were likely to play Dallas in the first round, he never thought for one second about not putting Nelson on the team because he “snubbed” the Wild’s likely call on free-agent day.

“The guy breaks his face at the Olympics, puts on a bubble and barely misses a shift,” Guerin said. “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 U.S. 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 U.S. assistant coach, especially gained a new respect for Nelson at the events.

“Nelly’s a heck of a player,” Hynes said. “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 U.S. 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 all around the lineup. I know he’s going to bring his game.”

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 a great place growing up that supports the team there extremely well. So I’ll probably put 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.”