SUNRISE, Fla. — It’s not often that a 31-year-old player goes to the All-Star Game for the first time.
But Brock Nelson, the Islanders’ understated center, is getting his moment in the sun this weekend as he follows up a career-best 2021-22 season with a campaign in which he’s likely to again pass the 30-goal mark. Nelson won the accuracy shooting contest Friday night at the All-Star skills competition, defeating Artemi Panarin in the semifinals and Nazem Kadri in the final.
“It’s fun. Fun event. I didn’t really know what to expect, was nervous going into the first one,” Nelson said. “To go home and share that experience and moment with the family, it’ll be fun.”
The go-to trope for Nelson is that he is underrated, thanks to a combination of playing behind Mathew Barzal and playing for the Islanders, a team that rarely gets much national attention. Among the NHL’s best, though, he has gotten his due.
“He’s just a really solid player,” Devils center Jack Hughes said. “Can score, can put the puck in the net. Solid defensively and offensively. He’s been a staple in that lineup for a lot of years. He’s a really good player.”
“I’ve always really, really liked Brock’s game. I talk about his game a lot, just the way he’s able to score a lot of goals but he’s a 200-foot player that I respect a lot,” said Bo Horvat, Nelson’s newest teammate. “Similar style of how I like to play. You put him out in any key situation, faceoffs and killing penalties and obviously 37 goals last year, he’s no slouch and off to a great start this year. Lot of respect for his game.”
Now that Horvat is an Islander, one of their centers will need to shift over to the wing to accommodate him. But that is unlikely to be Nelson, whose line with Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri was humming going into the All-Star break.
Still, Nelson left himself open to the possibility when asked about it on Thursday.
“I feel like all three [could], I think Bo’s played a little wing, I played a little wing at different points and Barzy obviously has been tried at the wing, too,” Nelson said. “So try and find some ways to mix and match, a couple of different combos that’ll work and help us provide more offense.”
As one of the Islanders’ representatives at the All-Star Game, Nelson was the first of Horvat’s teammates to talk publicly about the deal that brought the 31-goal scorer to Long Island.
“I think it just goes to show you, Lou [Lamoriello] wants to win and wants to win right now,” Nelson said. “It’s huge for the group. I think everybody believes in one another pre-trade and probably more so now, post-trade with Bo. He’s gonna be a big part of our team, a guy we’re gonna lean on a lot.”
Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin were eliminated in the first round of the tendy tandem event. Sorokin missed the net on all five of his tries as the designated shooter and Canadian women’s hockey star Sarah Nurse beat Shesterkin on a breakaway.
