The Colorado Avalanche shored up their depth at center Wednesday by bringing back Brock Nelson on a three-year deal.

The Avalanche are keeping arguably their top free agent in the fold for the foreseeable future. The team has signed forward Brock Nelson to a three-year contract extension that carries an average-annual-value of $7.5 million. Nelson was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

The Colorado Avalanche re-signed Brock Nelson to a three-year, $22.5 million contract extension. This contract proves one thing; the market for these free agents will be extremely high, so the New York Rangers should keep their distance. Nelson is a quality NHL center, but giving him an AAV of $7.5 million at 33 years old could be problematic.