Penguins
Penguins Coaching Search: Chatter Indicates Team High on Nelson
The Pittsburgh Penguins coaching search is entering the next phase as president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas begins in-person interviews this week following his virtual meetings from Sweden, where he was Team Canada’s GM for the World Championships.
While much speculation has centered on Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love, who boasts an impressive resume and is also the youngest of the favorites, chatter within trusted hockey circles and communicated to Pittsburgh Hockey Now over the weekend, indicates the Penguins are also high on Hershey Bears coach Todd Nelson.
“Very experienced. Very calm. Very simple,” said one source.
Another Nelson selling point, as communicated to PHN from people around the Hershey Bears organization, was the camaraderie and close-knit bonds that Nelson has fostered.
Nelson has coached Hershey for the last three seasons and brought immediate success, winning back-to-back Calder Cups in 2023 and 2024. His style of team building, which also includes involving veterans in decisions, might be the right blend for the Penguins, who are about to enter a transitional phase but with their championship core still leading the way.
“As soon as he stepped in, he made us become a family,” Hershey alternate captain Mike Vecchione told reporters following the season. “When he does (his annual) pig roast, he brings everyone’s wives, kids, families, he wants to get everyone ingrained with each other because this is your family … when you really care about the guy next to you and the people in the room, I think you play better. And that’s his philosophy.
“He brought that from Day 1, and he can really command a room. He’s more of a players’ coach, and he brings in the leadership group and bounces ideas off of us. He really makes it a family environment.”
The coach also has a connection to Penguins AGM Jason Spezza, dating back to the Dallas Stars’ 2018-19 season when Nelson was an assistant coach during Spezza’s final season in Dallas.
Nelson was also believed to be a candidate for the Vancouver Canucks’ vacant coaching position.
Todd Nelson’s Long Career
Nelson, 56, does have some NHL head coaching experience, though it is minimal. He was promoted from the AHL to the Edmonton Oilers interim coaching position in 2014-15, following the organization’s termination of Dallas Eakins. Todd McClellan replaced Nelson following the campaign.
Under Nelson, Edmonton was 17-25-9. Of course, that was a blessing in disguise as Edmonton won the draft lottery and selected Connor McDavid at the 2015 NHL Draft.
Nelson’s hockey journey has been a long one, beginning as a player. The Penguins drafted Nelson, who was a defenseman, in the fourth round of the 1989 draft. Nelson played one game for the 1991-92 Penguins, who eventually completed back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
Nelson played two more NHL games for the Washington Capitals in 1993-94 before primarily bouncing around the AHL and IHL for the remainder of his playing career.
His playing career ended as his coaching career began as a player/assistant coach with the Muskegon Fury of the UHL in 2001-02, winning the league championship. Nelson was an AHL assistant in Grand Rapids for one season, then returned to coach Muskegon for three seasons.
Like his playing career, Nelson has coached with numerous organizations. He was an assistant coach with the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008 to 2010 under John Anderson. Beginning in 2010, he was the head coach for the Edmonton Oilers AHL franchise in Oklahoma City, where he remained until being named the Oilers’ interim boss in December 2014.
Following his five-season stint with the Edmonton organization, he was named the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins and won the 2017 Calder Cup. In 2018, he began a four-season stint as an assistant in Dallas, first under Jim Montgomery and then Rick Bowness.
We believe Dubas will begin in-person interviews over the next couple of days as the Penguins search for the franchise’s 23rd head coach, replacing Mike Sullivan, who the New York Rangers almost immediately hired following his nearly decade-long run with the Penguins.
Here are Vecchione’s comments on Nelson:
Helson? Food or sleep deprived Dan? Good Article. He has my vote(in the event KD asks)!
This is why I asked about him the other day. He could be a very under the radar candidate. Dan, check paragraph 5. You have Helson leading it instead of Nelson. Just doing my part to help. 😀
And in the same spirit of trying to be helpful, he must be in consideration for Vancouver’s asst coaching opening as Foote was hired there as head coach.
see above.
Thanks, Matthew. The H looks like N in the small print!
Nelson might well be the guy…as soon as Hershey got knocked out of the three-peat quest last week, i felt like he might be the guy. Especially when Dubas had specifically stated in several interviews that he was wanting to interview some NHL and AHL coaches who were still in the playoffs.
I still think Mitch Love should be the guy, but it is entirely possible that Love chooses elsewhere because it seems like he’s gonna have a choice in the matter. If he does choose elsewhere Nelson would be my backup plan.
Sportsnet is reporting that Love and Sturm are finalists for the Bruins opening. Dubas better wake up fast if he is interested in Love. In-person interviews should have been setup for when he got back from Europe instead waiting until mid-week.
Wake up fast? Love interviewed already.
Face-to-face or from Europe? I thought only from Europe and being scheduled for in-person interviews in Pittsburgh. He is already a finalist for Boston, so Dubas is behind in this race.
I like either Love or Nelson. Both seem to be good player coaches. The Pens new coach will need a good rapport with both young and established players. Whomever they choose will probably get harangued the first time he loses. I am of a belief that Sully was better coach than most, you don’t win back to backs without some coaching skills!
I’m hearing Roderic Jean Brind’Amour
Who is your source? andrew filliponi?
RJB demands that his players to shoot da puck. A lot. That won’t work as long as Crosby is around to pass it incessantly.
As I mentioned on PHN weeks ago, He was my first choice when the search began after Sullivan’s firing. My second choice was Pandolfo.
Yeah, let’s have a team pig roast. That’ll turn this train wreck around, all right.
,
Yeah, that’s EXACTLY what this team needs — a family pig roast. A group hug wouldn’t hurt, either.
In other words, no one else wants the job.