Avalanche Offseason
He’s Staying: Avalanche Sign Brock Nelson To Three-Year Contract Extension
The second-line center position is figured out for the foreseeable future.
The Avalanche signed center Brock Nelson to a three-year contract extension, the team announced on Wednesday. Nelson was eligible to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 but opted instead to remain with the Avs. His new deal carries a $7.5 million AAV.
“We’re thrilled to have reached an agreement with Brock to keep him in Colorado for the next three seasons,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said in a team release. “He’s been a great center in this league for a long time, and he brings professionalism and a dedicated work ethic on and off the ice. We think he’s a great fit and is a stabilizing presence to our second-line center role with his size and ability to touch all areas of the ice.”
Colorado acquired Nelson at the trade deadline from the New York Islanders, sending highly touted prospect Calum Ritchie and a 2026 first-round draft pick back the other way. In 19 regular-season games, Nelson recorded six goals and seven assists after the trade before posting four assists in seven playoff games.
Nelson ended the playoffs centering Valeri Nichushkin and a returning Gabe Landeskog. He was the catalyst of the play that led to Landeskog’s first goal in three years.
“We’re excited to see what his contributions will be over a larger sample size with the Avalanche,” MacFarland said.
With this deal locked up, MacFarland and the rest of the front office can shift their attention to other pressing needs. They still need to either sign or replace Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta, Ryan Lindgren, and Erik Johnson, among others. The Avs have less than $2 million in cap space following this signing.
Expect the team to send salary out the door via trade if they plan to add others along the way.
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The Avs now have a full lineup signed with $1.2M left in cap space. The line up of 12F/6D/2G includes Wood, Middleton, and Malinski (RFA). Question now is what the Avs will do to improve or replace those players or anyone else? Rumor is that Necas was not fully happy with his Avs stint last season. If that is the case, do the Avs trade him and acquire another forward? Several playoff teams are looking at cap casualties or retooling after their playoff losses. Vegas, Dallas, Ottawa, NJ among them. Utah, San Jose, and Chicago have expressed that they may… Read more »
I’m all for moving out Necas. As I said when the Mikko trade went down, to keep Necas you’re going to have to pay him with the cap going up 9/10 per. He’s nowhere near worth that in my opinion. Trade Necas. Refill the cupboards with a pick or two. Maybe a prospect. Clear that 6.5 off the books, dump Wood. And all of the sudden they could have 10 million to utilize towards giving the D core a revamp. Maybe bring back Drouin (not my first option). Or even play Colton in the top 6 to start the year.… Read more »
Says the soothsayer Jeremy who didn’t think Nelson would re-sign with the Avs. Speaking of disappearing in the off season, no chirping from you on how your boy, heartthrob and all world Mikko Rantanen vastly underachieved, played soft and disappeared against the Oilers? Oh well, you can’t read all the tea leaves.
I have no problem in moving Necas or ANY OTHER player that poses problems, contract wise, a la Mikko Rantanen. And the sooner the better. I just don’t have the hate you possess towards Necas. But we know what that’s all about.
What it’s about is the guy is soft as tissue paper. The Mikko trade is done & over. No need to double down by paying this fraud 10 million a year. I don’t know how after what happened against Dallas. Any Intelligent Avs fan could stick their neck out to talk shit about Rants lol. He & the entire Stars roster were awful against the Oilers. Who clearly are the best team in the west currently. The guy had 22 postseason pts. The numbers are the numbers. I don’t care if the bulk of them came in X amount of… Read more »
As always, an enlightening take from “J” side. And, per usual, wild accusations about a hate boner I supposedly have for Sammy G. I’ve been on record as praising Sammy for getting the most out of his diminutive size and skating abilities. Girard logs a lot of regular season minutes but any fan with intelligence can see that he’s not cut out for the playoffs.
You’ve always been a “holier than thou” poster, Jeremy, and when your shit falls apart and your braggadocio and bluster fail, you head for the hills. Invisible. Nada. Nothing. Wimpus Maximus.
This is entertaining as hell reading you guys go back and forth. Jeremy, I’m the guy with Girard hate boner btw!
Lol. The funny thing is I don’t even particularly like Girard. He’s fine. But I happen to think he’s overpaid & has been exposed at times against bigger teams like Dallas. But as I said how he of all people can accuse me of being obsessed with Rantanen. When he obsesses about Girard. Who’s far more inconsequential in the grand scheme. Is the definition of the pot calling the kettle black.
I always enjoy your posts, Glendon. But where did you come up with the rumor that Necas was not fully happy with his Avs stint this year? At any rate, the Avs desperately need to upgrade their defense. Way too soft in front of the net and way too many battles lost in the corners. No real thumpers outside of Manson and he’s on his last legs. Quite frankly, I’d be all for any trade of Necas that strengthens the “D” core. They can’t expect much different results going into next season with a weak blue line.
Maybe they should utilize Keaton Middelton more! As you advocated they do last year. That will solve their defensive issues, lack of toughness!
I’d take him over Girard in the playoffs. And they should have played E.J. in the Dallas series. You can’t give up the front of the net consistently in the playoffs and expect to win.
It was very overlooked why EJ suddenly got no PT. I though Malinski deserved his chance at some point for sure, but EJ was solid in first two games. I thought it was particularly shocking that the coach didn’t feel a least bit obligated to play EJ one more time to at least allow him and his good pal Landy to play together for possibly the last time. I will keep saying this a thousand times, for those who cannot understand why Girard needs to be traded, please, please, please go back and watch how he totally miffed the puck… Read more »
Another reason I wasn’t happy with keep Bednar. He fails to see the obvious and doesn’t adjust well. Bedsy believes that not changing anything will yield different results. While Girard plays solid minutes during the “Ice Capades” season – – he can’t cover the front of the net and he easily gets muscled off the puck in the playoffs. Not his fault – – he gets the most out of his physical stature.
Insider Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet listed Necas on his Off-Season Trade Board, and painted a grim picture of his future in Denver.
https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2025/06/nhl-rumors-martin-necas-not-thrilled-in.html
I would find it odd that if true he would feel that way. What could he possibly have had to feel unhappy about?
He wanted more ice time/top 6 mins – ✔️
Wanted to play more up tempo hockey & less dump & chase – ✔️. Playing on a line with the 2nd best forward in the word – ✔️
He probably didn’t like having expectations. He strikes me as one of those players who wants to get his regular season pts. His big contract & coast. He’d probably love it in Buffalo or Columbus.
I mean Necas thrived in the regular season. No one to blame but himself in post-season for not putting the puck in the net. He seemed pretty happy celebrating with his teammates after goals and games. I have very mixed feelings about him. On one side he screams the type of postseason player I claim to despise (soft) and has enough of a history of post-season letdown to validly claim it is justified. On the other hand, I found him exhilarating to watch in the regular season and was in awe of his open ice abilities. He had a few… Read more »
Necas being not thrilled in his time with the Avs and possibly looking to move on started with a tweet from Elliot Friedman and was added to by a couple of other NHL writers. Not sure of the validity, but the gist was saw how hard negotiations were with Mikko and he doesn’t want a repeat in Jan 26. If true…I’m all for moving him for a #3D or another wing with more physicality. Might also bring Drouin back depending on price.
Even if the Necas rumor is untrue, the question is should the Avs consider trading him to make the rest of the team better. If the Avs can get a top 4 pick in the draft for him, do you trade him and then use his cap money somewhere else? Even if that was the case, the Avs would have to trade someone else or more, to get enough money to basically rebuild the bottom half of the defense. Could some or all of Coyle, Colton, Girard, and Manson be traded to get a scoring forward and bigger on defense?… Read more »
The Avs need help now, not a draft choice. And we’ve seen how the Avs draft and develop players. If the rumors are true about Necas not being happy, then by all means, trade him before the start of the season. Perhaps as part of a blockbuster deal. But under no circumstances do you keep him. If I were Necas, I’d address the rumors purely to strengthen my bargaining position and tradability IF he is really unhappy in Colorado. Bouncing around from team to team isn’t a good way to secure a long term contract. But as far as the… Read more »
The Avs need both help now and draft choices. Do you trade Necas or any other Avs for draft choices and then spend the cap space on free agents? Several teams have said they may trade their 1st round picks for top 6 forwards. If the Avs could trade Necas to San Jose for their #2 pick, would you do it? The Avs could then save $6.5M to use somewhere else. The top 6 could be: Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Nichushkin Landeskog-Nelson-Colton The Avs could then look for some 3rd liners. Then the Avs could move Girard and hopefully get 2 big LD to… Read more »
While true, the Avs need help now, you trade for picks and prospects if you’re trying to clear cap space. After the Nelson signing the Avs don’t have cap room to make upgrades
Clearing cap space is nice. But only if they are able to make a deal and strengthen the team for a Cup run this season. I understand the potential need to move Necas. But not getting a solid player in return or getting picks while not improving your team via trade makes no sense to me.
It goes without saying that moves won’t be made just to make a move and I’m not saying that Necas has to be the 1 moved, although he is if mgt thinks he wants more $/term than he’s worth. I typically don’t spend energy “rosterbating” so it could be Colton, Girard or any other player but money has to be moved out with less $ coming back (picks and prospects) to give the team flexibility to make any moves suggested in these postings. Shopping the free agent market is often overpaying so first acquiring picks and prospects would be useful… Read more »
How dare you refute Rico with logic, fact & measured sensibility. Me thinks he has a hard time with the workings of the salary cap.
I would deal Necas for SJ’s 2nd pick, and then make several (3?) other trades to free up cap space while adding a top 6 wing and retooling the bottom 4 D. Any combination of Coyle, Colton, Girard, Manson, and Wood trades to get a Necas replacement and 2nd pairing of D would be awesome. Just don’t overpay. One can dream!?
I’ll take it! That’s actually a little less than I thought he’d fetch on the open market, and I think the three year term works well for both sides. If he doesn’t end up working out, it should be much easier to move him. However, I’m cautiously optimistic it will work out! This does make me wonder if Coyle could be out the door, though, because that’s a ton of money invested down the middle. I also wonder if Necas could be on the move again, based on the rumblings he’s not completely sold on staying here. I would add:… Read more »
Knock me over with a feather! I assumed we would sign with the Wild, and that the talk of staying w Avs was a smoke screen. A 3 x $7.5M seems an over pay, but that was essentially what he turned down to stay in Long Island. It will be interesting to see what mgt does with Colton, Manson, Wood, Drouin, Girard, Kivi, Malinski, and the unhappy Necas. I would hope they try to re-sign Drou, Malinsky, and Kivi for minimal $ and term. I think hockey trades any of the remaining 4 would be great if we could strengthen… Read more »
Great news,& I’m especially happy that it’s 3 yrs-perfect term.
If necas is truly unhappy then I would ship him to Ottawa and get batherson and matinpalo and 2nd rd. Manson gets traded as he injury prone. Perbix replaces him.
Girard gets traded for cap space and draft. Capital.
Lekhonen mack batherson
Landy nelson nuke
colton coyle olofsson
LOC drury kelly
Matinpalo will fill the 7/8 D spot. Batherson plays on top line.
Toews makar
Lindgren malinski
Forbort perbix
Middleton matinpalo
I like it. We have to double-down on our decisions and the players need to find some mental toughness in the offseason.
I think people forgot how good colton was playing with mack at the start of tge season. Ship necas off for a top 3 pick? Fuck yeah why not use that money to move wood,girard and possibly manson to upgrade the d and sign another winger.
Assuming colton stays healthy and produces lile he did last year before getting hurt
Both Evan and Aarif on the “trade Colton” train. I thought he was playing well in the playoffs before he got hurt. He was definitely missed in the Dallas series. As always, a trade in the abstract sounds good. Just like a politician in a poll running against nobody.
Because he’s a logical trade candidate & has been attempted to be relayed to you, they need to move out money.
He makes 4 million. Is a wildly inconsistent 3rd line wing. Who doesn’t play special teams. And has become very expendable now that they don’t need him to moonlight as an occasional center. He & your crush Girard are both logical cap casualties.
Dump Drouin, Necas, and Girard.