Early Friday morning on the East Coast, roughly 14 hours before the NHL’s trade deadline, the Colorado Avalanche and New York Islanders pulled off one of the biggest trades of the season, one which could move Stanley Cup odds. The Isles sent veteran center Brock Nelson to the Avs for Calum Ritchie, Colorado’s top prospect, and either Colorado’s 2026 or 2027 first-round draft slot.
If you were to come up with a list of the NHL’s top goal scorers since the start of 2021-22 season, the players at the very top of the list – Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak and Connor McDavid – would be easy to name, especially for those using Canada sports betting sites. But none of those players are candidates to be dealt before the March 7 trade deadline.
Brock Nelson is not at the top of that scoring list. However, the New York Islander forward has lit the lamp 127 times in 297 games over the last three-plus seasons. That makes Nelson one of the top 30 scorers in the NHL over that span, and a primary reason why the Minnesota native was a member of the American team for the recent 4 Nations Face-Off.
BetCanada.com, your source for the best Canada sports betting promo codes, developed odds on where Nelson, who has 246 points since the start of the 2021-22 season, would play as the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs draw near.
Team | Odds | Percent Chance |
Colorado Avalanche | ----- | 100% |
Nelson’s name is higher on the scoring list since the 2021-22 season than such players as Sidney Crosby (125), Brady Tkachuk (126) and JT Miller (117).
After Miller went from Vancouver to the New York Rangers, Nelson became one of the top trade candidates. When he suits up with his new team, the 33-year-old is expected to be the second-line center for the fifth-highest scoring team in the NHL. In our previous update, we had given the Avalanche +1250 odds (a 7.4% chance) of acquiring Nelson. Our odds have been exclusive to BetCanada.com, but Canada sportsbook apps have plenty of other hockey wagering options.
Before Friday’s games, Colorado had 76 points, tied with the Minnesota Wild for third in the Central Division. However, the Wild currently hold the tiebreaker, meaning the Avalanche are in the Western Conference’s top wild card spot.
Of the teams on BetCanada’s previous odds board for Nelson, a couple have made other moves to acquire a forward. The Wild, currently without top scorer Kirill Kaprizov, traded for Nashville’s Gustav Nyquist this month. Dallas, meanwhile, is reportedly getting Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes, though that deal is contingent on Rantanen signing an extension with the Stars.
Colorado has no problem scoring, but the Avs do have a problem with faceoffs. Their 45.8% rate on faceoffs is third-to-last in the league and the lowest among Stanley Cup contenders. Nathan MacKinnon has won 49.2% of his faceoffs, but neither Casey Mittelstadt and Parker Kelley, who have taken the second- and third-most draws this season, are winning 43% of their faceoffs.
Faceoff percentage might not correlate to a team’s success, but in tight games, there are always faceoffs that are critical to win. Nelson this year has a 52.8% mark on faceoffs, a career best. That could come in handy for Colorado come playoff time when they need to win a draw at a pivotal moment.
Will Nelson help shorten Colorado’s odds of winning its second championship in four seasons? BetCanada’s NHL betting guide helps you get started and our Stanley Cup odds page lets you compare the prices for the Avalanche and other contenders at the top sportsbooks today.
USA Today photo by Sam Navarro
Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters. He shares his expertise on BetCanada, among other sites.
