CASTLE PINES, Colo. — Brock Nelson was tempted to take a look around, but ultimately decided he had already found his new home.

Nelson could have been the top center available when the free-agent market opened July 1. Given that the salary cap ceiling increased more than in the past five years combined, with more big jumps coming in the next two offseasons, there might have been a chance to set off a bidding war for his services.

Instead, the 33-year-old made his decision well in advance of that, signing a three-year, $22.5 million contract June 4 with the Avalanche.

“I feel like, depending upon the day (and) where your mind would go, it’d be a lie if you said you didn’t think of a lot of different situations,” Nelson said Monday ahead of the Avs’ annual charity golf event at Castle Pines. “This feels like a special group in a special place.

“I loved my time here in the spring. Obviously, would have liked to have gone a little bit further. I saw the potential, what the group is capable of. All of that factored into the decision to come back.”

Getting Nelson signed was the biggest piece of offseason business for the Avalanche. The franchise has cycled through No. 2 centers since losing Nazem Kadri after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. Casey Mittelstadt looked like a potential long-term option after the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but a lengthy funk last year led to him ending up in Boston and Nelson’s arrival from the New York Islanders.

Nelson had only played for the Islanders to that point in his career, but his time in Denver at the end of the last season helped convince him to make it an extended stay. Keeping him was a critical part of keeping Colorado among the clubs that can compete for the Stanley Cup in 2025-26.

“There’s not a lot of (quality) 2Cs, and then there’s not a lot of 2Cs that hit the market. We knew that,” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said in July. “The ones that do are usually expensive, and to trade for them is not easy.

“(Nelson is) a smart defensive centerman. He’s long. I think we’re going to use him a bit more in the special teams roles now that he’ll have a full training camp. Brock is a proven player at this level. He takes good care of himself, and he fit in.”

Nelson arrived at the Avs’ golf event with Devon Toews, a longtime friend and former teammate with the Islanders. Toews didn’t hide that he had been in Nelson’s ear about potentially joining the Avalanche earlier in the 2024-25 season. Nelson admitted that he spoke with Toews and a few other Avs players quite a bit before making the decision to come back.

The lanky, smooth-skating center has also worked out in previous offseasons with Nathan MacKinnon, another vital member of Colorado’s leadership group who wholeheartedly endorsed Nelson’s arrival and the idea of keeping him.

After Nelson determined Denver is home for the next three seasons, his family moved here in early August so that his kids could get settled with school. Nelson is happy to have the chaos of family life back, after what he called some long, lonely days near the end of last season.

While Nelson will be critical to the Avs’ plans this coming season, he also has some experience that may have been of some interest ahead of training camp to his teammates. Nelson played for new Avs assistant coach Dave Hakstol at North Dakota when the latter was a longtime successful leader of that NCAA program.

“He was great. He was a solid presence, an intimidating guy, a detailed guy,” Nelson said. “Doesn’t let anything kind of get by him in terms of preparation and game plans. An intense guy, so he was one of those guys … you looked up to him as a little bit of like a mentor. You were afraid in a way, and you wanted to play your best for him, because he found a way to kind of get the best out of everybody and manage every personality.

“So to have him again, it’ll be fun to kind of see him and connect with him again. And I know his drive to win it is as high as he gets.”

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