Brock Nelson has ascended to John Tavares' former spot as No. 1 center
Islanders center Brock Nelson skates against the Red Wings in the third period of an NHL game at UBS Arena on March 24. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
TORONTO – John Tavares was days away from leaving via free agency for the Maple Leafs and coach Barry Trotz was using the summer to get to know his new Islanders’ players. That included a phone call to Brock Nelson.
“My conversation was pretty straightforward with Brock,” Trotz recalled before Sunday night’s game against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. “I didn’t know Brock. I just said, from afar, it looks like you have an ability to play higher up in the lineup. He didn’t look like a natural third-line center to me. We talked about his game and I said, ‘I feel you can fill a void, either that second-line void or a more offensive role.’ ”
That was almost four years ago and Nelson, who entered Sunday with a career-high 34 goals, has ascended to Tavares’ former spot as the Islanders’ No. 1 center after Mathew Barzal missed time in early March with a lower-body injury.
Still, Nelson’s personal success has come in a season where the Islanders will almost certainly snap a three-season streak of qualifying for the playoffs. They entered Sunday’s game a regulation loss away from postseason elimination.
“We’ve put together some strong performances and we’ve played some really good games of late,” said Casey Cizikas as the Islanders entered Sunday 14-6-1 since March 10. “It’s not easy being in the position we’re in but each and every night we’re going out there with a purpose and that’s to win the game.”
“It hasn’t changed anything,” Trotz said. “We’re pretty realistic on where we knew we were and the chances. If we’re in or out it’s not going to matter one way or the other. We’re going to play the same way. We’re going to play to the end. That’s that group. They made that commitment.”
There are still individual accomplishments possible and there’s no doubt the Islanders would like to see Nelson become the team’s first 40-goal scorer since Anders Lee in 2017-18.
Nelson, an Islander since 2013, agreed Tavares’ departure opened more opportunities for him.
“Johnny chose to come here and there were some changes with the coaches and management,” Nelson said. “I remember having some phone calls with Barry, just talking about the opportunity for a lot of guys, especially for Casey and myself up the middle, some more ice time to be had. Some power-play time. Johnny does a little bit of everything. He did some penalty kill for us, too. He was an integral part of our team before.
“When he left, it opened up some space so Barry decided there was going to be opportunity and he said he liked my game from the outside and he wanted to see if he could help me elevate a little bit more. I think he’s done that. He’s helped a couple of guys take advantage of that.”
Tavares entered Sunday with 73 points (26 goals, 47 assists) in 74 games but Auston Matthews (58 goals, 44 assists) has been the Maple Leafs center garnering the most attention.
He entered Sunday without a goal in his last three games – one short of matching his season-long goal drought – and Matthews was held without a point in both the Maple Leafs’ 3-0 win over the Islanders on Nov. 21 and a 3-1 victory on Jan. 22. Both those games were at UBS Arena. The Islanders did not have to deal with Matthews Sunday night. He was held out of the game with a minor injury.
“The season he’s having is pretty remarkable,” Nelson said. “I feel like you look at the boxscore every night and you’re seeing highlights, he’s getting one, two, three. It doesn’t take him much time or space to get that shot off and he’s lethal with it.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
