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: