If The Maple Leafs Want Another Center, Islanders' Brock Nelson Is The Ideal Fit

The Toronto Maple Leafs could use another effective center by the trade deadline to deal with injury scares, and the New York Islanders' Brock Nelson would be perfect.

TSN analyst Mike Johnson recently made it known the Leafs and Islanders could indeed collaborate on a Nelson trade. Sportsnet's Luke Fox suggested that move as well. And while no deal is imminent, Nelson can bring his scoring touch and size as an impact rental for the club.

Nelson has produced at least 34 goals on an offensively challenged Islanders team in the last three seasons. With eight goals in 22 games this season, Nelson is nearly on a 30-goal pace. His current shooting percentage of 11.4 percent is below is career average of 14.2 percent as well, which suggests he could get a goal streak going eventually.

Right now, the Maple Leafs are without their top center, Auston Matthews, who remains out with an injury. Fox mentioned Domi wasn't effective enough at centering the third line before his injury, either. While they continue to win games thanks to Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and their goaltending tandem, a lack of depth down the middle whenever a center gets hurt is a cause for concern come playoff time.

Related: No Matthews, No Problem? Maple Leafs Soar Thanks To Mitch Marner

Nelson’s generating that offense in 18:59 of average ice time – the ideal amount of minutes the Buds would give him on the second line, and maybe a bit less if he centered the third line. That’s exactly the type of production Toronto is looking for, and if he does perform well with the Leafs for the rest of this season, Nelson could be a longer-term fit for the team around that $6-million cap hit he currently has.

The excellent play of Tavares, who has nine goals and 20 points in 20 games this year, has decreased the urgency for Treliving to acquire help down the middle right away. But if they get Nelson, the other option is to slide Tavares down to Toronto's third line and make the most of the competitive mismatches he’d get.

Wherever Nelson goes, he can boost Toronto’s already impressive power on offense and play responsibly on defense. At 6-foot-4, he’s got a long reach and the big body Leafs coach Craig Berube wants in every area of his lineup, especially when getting to the front of the net. He engages on the backcheck and away from the puck as well.

To be sure, a Leafs and Islanders trade would require some salary cap massaging to make the deal cap-compliant.

Toronto currently has $1.53 million in cap space, and they’d have to use all of that in any Nelson deal. The Leafs will also face a significant cap crunch when currently injured forwards Max Pacioretty, David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok are healthy and ready to return to action from the long-term injured reserve.

But depending on what Leafs GM Brad Treliving can offer to get the Isles to retain up to 50 percent of Nelson’s $6-million salary in a trade, and depending on whether they can get a third team to retain another 25 percent of the total cap hit, it could work.

The Maple Leafs also have a handful of assets to choose from when assembling a trade package, including left wingers Nick Robertson and Alex Steeves, five picks in the 2025 NHL draft and a first-rounder in 2026 and 2027.

The 33-year-old Nelson will also be a UFA at the end of this season, so he’s a high-priced rental. That could drive down the price.

Nelson can veto a trade to 16 teams of his choice. But if he’s interested in a long post-season run, Nelson should welcome a deal to Toronto.

Nelson labelled himself “indifferent” in the pre-season when it came to signing a contract extension before the campaign, so it's uncertain where he'll be in the months and year ahead. But he may prove to be the final piece of the puzzle for the Buds.

The Islanders are 8-9-5 and two points out of a wild-card spot right now, and they've only won four of their last 10 games. If they don't improve, trading Nelson to a true Cup contender like the Leafs makes sense.

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