DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche shored up their depth at center Wednesday by bringing back Brock Nelson on a three-year deal.
It is worth $22.5 million, a person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because financial terms were not announced.
The extension keeps Nelson, 33, with the Avalanche through the 2027-28 NHL season at an annual salary cap hit of $7.5 million. Colorado picked up Nelson in a trade with the New York Islanders on March 6.
Nelson played in 19 games with Colorado to finish up the regular season with six goals and seven assists, and had four assists in the team's first-round playoff exit against Dallas.
“He’s been a great center in this league for a long time, and he brings professionalism and a dedicated work ethic on and off the ice," Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said in a statement. “We think he’s a great fit and is a stabilizing presence to our second-line center role with his size and ability to touch all areas of the ice. We’re excited to see what his contributions will be over a larger sample size with the Avalanche.”
Nelson has 587 career points (301 goals, 286 assists) spanning 920 regular-season games since being selected by the Islanders in the first round of the 2010 NHL draft. He played at North Dakota before joining the Islanders.
Nathan MacKinnon is Colorado's top-line center and turned in a regular season in which he finished second in the league with 116 points. Nelson occupies the second-line center spot and Charlie Coyle anchors the third line.
Nelson has proven durable, playing in 246 straight regular-season games.
“Having spent my entire career with one organization, we weren’t totally sure what to expect when we arrived in Denver,” said Nelson, who was acquired as part of a deal that sent Calum Ritchie, Oliver Kylington, a first-round pick in the 2026 or 2027 NHL draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2028 to the Islanders. “But getting the opportunity to play for the Avalanche, to compete with a great group of teammates in that locker room, and in front of the tremendous fans at Ball Arena, we knew this was where we wanted to stay.”
Nelson's salary topping $7 million could help set the bar for other pending free agent forwards like Toronto's John Tavares and Dallas' Matt Duchene.
AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno in Edmonton, Alberta, contributed to this report.
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FILE - Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson (11) skates with the puck against the Dallas Stars during the third period in Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series, April 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Huge crowds flocked to the area outside Bangladesh’s national parliament building in the capital Wednesday to attend the funeral prayers for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia , who died a day earlier at the age of 80 after a prolonged illness.
Waves of people from Dhaka and elsewhere had been streaming in toward the venue on Manik Mia Avenue, outside the parliament building, since early morning. Witnesses said many cried, calling Zia their “mother” as they arrived at the venue, with some traveling overnight from rural areas to join the prayers. In neighborhoods kilometers (miles) away, crowds also spilled into major streets to pray.
Zia’s funerals were expected to draw hundreds of thousands of her supporters and people from across the country while dignitaries from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal also arrived in Dhaka, with local media saying foreign envoys and representatives from 32 countries joined the funeral ceremony. She will be buried beside the grave of her husband, a former president who was assassinated in a military coup in 1981, in a park outside the parliament building later Wednesday.
Zia came to politics after her husband’s death and rose to prominence as an opposition leader during a nine-year movement against a former military dictator who was ousted in a mass uprising in 1990. Zia became prime minister for the first time in 1991, with a landslide victory in a democratically held national election as the country introduced parliamentary democracy. She was the leader of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party till her death.
Zia, who was known for having a calm demeanor, maintained a strong political rivalry with her archrival and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina, who heads the Bangladesh Awami League party, ruled the country for 15 years before she was ousted in 2024 in a mass uprising.
Zia's coffin, draped in Bangladesh’s national flag, was carried in a van escorted by security officials and party supporters from the hospital to her residence and then to the funeral venue.
Authorities said about 10,000 security officials including soldiers would be deployed around the venue to maintain order on Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus announced a three-day mourning and declared Wednesday a public holiday to facilitate the funerals. Flags were kept at half-staff Wednesday across the country to show respect to Zia, the country’s first female prime minister who served two full terms and another brief term.
Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman, is the acting head of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is the front-runner in the nation’s next elections in February.
Hasina, who has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024, was sentenced to death in November on charges of crimes against humanity involving last year’s uprising.
FILE - Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia looks upwards as she attends a rally of her supporters outside their party headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)
FILE - Khaleda Zia takes an oath of office as the prime minister in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct. 10, 2001. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman, File)
FILE - Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, center, leaves court after a hearing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo, File)
