New York Islanders: Brock Nelson Isn’t Developing Shots

New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson got off to a good start. Recently, he’s cooled off and isn’t shooting the puck nearly enough.

Brock Nelson has gone the last eight games without scoring a goal for the New York Islanders. After an initial hot start, to say Nelson cooled off would be an understatement. So, looking at his statistics it’s easy to see why he’s struggling.

Brock isn’t creating nearly enough shots. Last year, arguably his best year in the league (a sad thought) he shot the puck 173 times. On those 173 shots, he was able to net 20 goals giving him a shooting percentage of 11.6 percent.

Right now, through 17 games Brock only has 26 shots on goal. If he continues at this pace for the rest of the season he would finish with 125 shots which would be the lowest amount of shots Brock has had at the NHL level.

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When taking into account his career shooting percentage, 12.4 percent, that would put him at an unimpressive 16 goals on the season. Other than his rookie year when he put up 13 goals, Brock has scored 20 goals in every other year of his career.

This would be a gigantic step back for Nelson. Although, there’s hope here for Brock and his name is Joshua Ho-Sang.

Why do we think Brock Nelson stopped developing shots? In addition to his long periods of hibernation modes throughout a season, which could certainly be a factor, look at who he was playing with.

Jason Chimera and Anthony Beauvillier are not exactly players who help players around them develop shots. Ho-Sang on the other hand, he does.

An important statistic that I left out of my argument so far was Brock’s shooting percentage for this year. He’s shooting at a career high of 19.2 percent. The problem with him isn’t finishing, instead, it’s the opportunities.

If you put Brock Nelson with Ho-Sang he will be the most productive version of himself. In all likelihood, Nelson doesn’t keep his almost 20 percent shooting percentage for the entire season, but you’re lying to yourself if you think that a Nelson – Ho-Sang combo isn’t the best thing for this team.

The Islanders top two lines have some serious weapons on them. If Nelson and Ho-Sang can give you 40 points on the third line that’d be more than enough offense out of the third unit.

Next: Weight Praises Josh Bailey

Nelson isn’t Isles Twitter’s favorite player, and for good reason. But, as long as he’s on the team you have to get the most out of him. This is how you do it.

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