At this time last year, there was no guarantee that Brock Nelson would be a member of the New York Islanders for much longer. He was coming off a pretty rough 35 point season and it looked like John Tavares and Mathew Barzal were the future down the middle.
Well, Tavares bolted out of here and the Islanders, wisely, held onto Brock Nelson and gave him a one-year prove it deal. There was some debate whether or not Nelson would be the second line center going into the season.
Jan Kovar (remember him), was in the mix for a center spot but ultimately didn’t make the club.