New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson had a quiet 4 Nations tournament. But that doesn't mean the pending unrestricted free agent's trade value took any kind of hit.
Were no points through four games ideal?
No, it was not, and Nelson certainly had chances to score throughout the tournament.
But let's consider a few things here.
In this best-on-best tournament, Nelson, a top-six forward forward his entire NHL career, was asked to play a fourth-line role.
His fourth-line role wasn't the same as the Islanders' MC^2 line, but it was more of a defense-first role, as one can expect. For the most part, outside of the unfortunate overtime icing that eventually led to Connor McDavid's overtime winner in the finals, Nelson did his job.
He averaged 14:20 minutes per game for USA, averaging 19:10 minutes for the Islanders.
Nelson wasn't the only American forward to not score in the tournament, either.
Auston Matthews, along with J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, and Kyle Connor, failed to light the lamp.
Outside of Connor, the other names played top-nine roles the entire tournament.
Here's a breakdown of who had a zero in the goal department from the other three countries:
Canadien forwards without a goal: Sam Reinhart, Seth Jarvis, Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, and Travis Konecny.
Swedish forwards Without a goal: Elias Pettersson, Filip Forsberg, Lucas Raymond, William Nylander, Leo Carlsson, Rickard Rakell, and Elias Lindholm,
Finnish forwards without a goal: Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho, Kaapo Kakko, Viktor Arvidsson, Arturri Lehkonen, Eetu Luostarinen, Erik Haula, Teuvo Teravainen, and Roope Hintz.
The point here is that many talented hockey players known for thier offense, 28 of them, didn't find the back of the net.
As we approach the March 7th NHL Trade Deadline, Nelson, if being shopped, still remains the top forward option on most trade boards.
This tournament, if anything, gave him some added experience about what it takes to win against the best in the world, which would be beneficial to any team looking to hoist the Stanley Cup in a few months.
Nelson has 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 55 games with Long Island this season on a team where the power play is dead-last in the NHL (11.5%).
In 82 playoff games, Nelson has 52 points (28 goals, 24 assists), with four points (two goals, two assists) in five playoff games last postseason against the Carolina Hurricanes.
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