Nelson will be working with Pittsburgh’s forwards and overseeing the power play, which finished sixth in the NHL last season with a 25.8% success rate. Nelson said the key to continuing that success is to not overthink it.
“I think the biggest thing is working together, getting pucks to the net, attacking the net,” Nelson said. “Making sure that when you shoot the puck, you have to retrieve those loose puck battles, come with speed off the breakout and just everybody working together.
“That’s (another big) thing, is trying to find the personnel that works well with each other. Because you’re dealing with high-end skill. You’re dealing with guys, they’re all very proud hockey players and sometimes, it might look good on paper but it doesn’t really mesh well on the ice. That’s something that we’ll talk about as a group and figure out moving forward.”
At the NHL level, Nelson briefly served as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 and also had stops with the Dallas Stars (2018-22) and Atlanta Thrashers (2008-10), both as an assistant coach.
At the AHL level, Nelson has served as head coach with Hershey (2022-25), Grand Rapids (2015-18) and Oklahoma City (2010-15), winning the Calder Cup Championship on three separate occasions (2024, ’23, ’17), making him one of just six coaches in AHL history to win three league championships.
That resume was intriguing to new Penguins head coach Dan Muse.
“It's a crazy record, that crazy success that he's had, and he's done it while still developing younger players coming up,” Muse said. “He's done it with older players, veteran players as well, and everything in between. And so, he's got a great track record... you want to have people around you that have gone through it before.”
Nelson wasn’t necessarily expecting a call from Muse, someone he did not know personally before the interview process began. And while their first conversation went well, Nelson said that at the back of his mind, he expected to return to Hershey. He had been there since 2022, had tremendous success, and really enjoyed being a head coach.
But after another phone conversation that turned into in-person meetings, the opportunity became more and more intriguing.
“Then, they made me an offer,” Nelson said. “I talked to my wife about it. I’m going, well, I spent quite a few years in the American League, had my degree of success there and I was up for the challenge. Something new, obviously. I liked what I heard, what we’re trying to do here. To work with some of the talent here, it’s going to be fantastic. So, I’m looking forward to the opportunity and very excited to get going.”
