Brock Nelson Shines Through the Islanders Struggles

This year hasn't been anything close to what the New York Islanders were hoping for. They currently are sitting at 15-16-6 through 37 games this year. Fans are frustrated, the team is frustrated, it just hasn't been what anyone was expecting from this club yet.

While it seems like the sky is falling around this team, I wanted to point out one glowing positive. That positive so far has been the play of Brock Nelson this year.

He scored another goal last night and over his last five games, Nelson has six points (3 goals, 3 assists).

Through 28 games this year, Brock Nelson has 14 goals and 7 assists. He leads the team in goals, despite missing nine games, and he's taken his game to yet another level under Barry Trotz it seems. The veteran center has surely found a role and due to shortened seasons over the last couple of years, we aren't seeing these eye-popping stats but when you look deeper, the play is excellent.

2019-2020 - 54 points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 68 games

82 game pace: 65 points - 31 goals

2020-2021 - 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) in 56 games

82 game pace: 48 points - 26 goals

2021-2022 - 21 points (14 goals, 7 assists) in 28 games

82 game pace: 62 points - 41 goals

Brock Nelson technically has yet to score 30 goals in an NHL season but in two of his last three years he's paced out to do just that. Right now Brock is shooting at a career high 22.2 percent, which obviously isn't sustainable but the Islanders desperately need that with everyone else struggling around him.

Anthony Beauvillier is shooting at 8.2 percent, Zach Parise at 5.1 percent, JG Pageau is at 8.2 percent, Kyle Palmieri is shooting at 1.6 percent, and Josh Bailey at 9.4 percent. These guys are well off their career averages which obviously isn't good when it's all happening at the same time.

While the Islanders offense has been inconsistent, which is probably putting it lightly, Brock Nelson being a steady reliable player has been a nice safety net when watching this team night in and night out. Now, if only we could do something about those other forwards...