ST. PAUL, Minn. — This might have been one of the best games of the season for Brock Nelson, on a few different levels.

Nelson had a goal and two assists Sunday night for the Colorado Avalanche in a dominant 5-1 win against the surging Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena. The stakes, both personally for Nelson and for his team, were pretty high for a late-December regular-season contest.

The win ended Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak and avenged a Colorado shootout loss here a little more than three weeks ago. It was also a homecoming game for Nelson, a Warroad, Minnesota, native who had friends and family in the building.

Also in the building was Wild general manager Bill Guerin, who, when he wasn’t making a blockbuster trade for defenseman Quinn Hughes and trying to build a team capable of competing with the Avalanche for a Central Division title and the Stanley Cup, is the lead decision maker for USA Hockey and in charge of putting together a roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.

The rosters for the first Olympic games to feature NHL players since 2014 must be finalized by Dec. 31. As closing arguments go, Nelson’s performance in the Twin Cities was a big one.

“I don’t see why he’d be off (the team),” Avs star Nathan MacKinnon said. “With Billy here tonight, it’s great for him to have an awesome game. He’s peaking at the right time. He looks amazing — guy that big that can move like that, one of the best defensive centers in the league. At the 4 Nations, it was all about defense pretty much. It was very difficult hockey and you have to check hard, so he’s a perfect player.”

Nelson played for the U.S. team at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in February. The Americans finished second, but had two titanic clashes with MacKinnon and the Canadians.

There was some criticism of Nelson’s performance at the time. He was one of several U.S. forwards who did not make a big offensive impact, though the sample size was four games.

When Nelson got off to a slow start in his first full season with the Avalanche, it might have seemed like he could be one of the players destined to be replaced for Milan to give the American roster a slightly different look. Circumstances have changed, though.

Nelson has 14 goals and 25 points in 35 games for the Avs. He now has 11 goals and 20 points in his past 19 games.

As MacKinnon noted, Nelson’s defensive prowess has made as much of an impact for the league’s best team as his goal scoring. Avs coach Jared Bednar often tries to match his line against the other team’s top guys, which can allow MacKinnon’s line more time to feast in the offensive zone and against lesser competition.

He’s also become one of the key figures on the NHL’s second-best penalty kill. Nelson started the year as the fifth or sixth forward in the PK rotation, but he’s entrenched in the top four now.

As much as some fans might want to see these Olympic teams just take the best offensive players, the people in charge of them see what MacKinnon saw in Montreal and Boston — a tournament where checking and defensive prowess are going to matter as much or more than offensive skill.

“I think there’s no question he’s going to be in the conversation,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “They have tough decisions to make. Brock is a guy who does a little bit of everything, and he does it all well. I think he’s definitely in the conversation and I really hope he gets the opportunity to go.”

Nelson will find out soon enough if he’s going to spend part of February in Italy or not. He’s made a late charge and a strong case for himself. One of the players he might be competing with for a spot, Rangers center J.T. Miller, was just injured and the timeline is not clear for when he’ll return.

Milan probably wasn’t on Nelson’s mind for most of this weekend. This was a trip home, and a chance to catch up with people he might not get to see in February if he is headed to the Olympics.

And it was a chance for his team to remind one of its key rivals who is still the team to beat in the Central, and the NHL overall.

“Yeah, it’s been great,” Nelson said. “It’s obviously different, but I got a taste of (playing for the Avs) last year and how awesome it was. It just felt right. I think the guys that we have leading the way with Nate and Cale (Makar), (Gabe Landeskog) …

“We have a great group of guys, from top to bottom. The goalies are great. It makes it fun coming to the rink every day.”

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