Todd Nelson played as many games for the Pittsburgh Penguins as he has hockey cards.
One.
A fourth-round draft pick (No. 79 overall) of the Penguins back in 1989, Nelson’s career as a defenseman saw him primarily bounce around the minor leagues, including his first two professional seasons with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, the Penguins’ primary affiliate with the now-defunct International Hockey League.
Early in the 1991-92 season, the Penguins recalled him to the NHL roster, and he skated in his only game for the club, a 2-2 tie against the New York Islanders at Civic Arena on Nov. 11, 1991.
That solitary contest was enough for Topps to issue a card for Nelson.
“I don’t know how many they printed off,” Nelson said. “Because I keep on signing them.”
Nelson’s single game with the Penguins — he played in two contests with the Washington Capitals later in his career — was profound for him.
“My experience for that day, everything happened really quick,” Nelson said. “I was in Muskegon, having breakfast, and, all of a sudden, I got the call to come up. It was a fun dressing room to walk into with everybody who was here. Everybody knows (the stars who) played during that time. I got there around 4 (p.m.), and the first guy to walk over was Paul Coffey just saying ‘congratulations on your first game.’ The second one was Mario.
“It was just a great experience.”
Nelson is experiencing a bit of déjà vu these days. He again is stepping into a room full of stars with the Penguins after being hired as an assistant coach June 20.
The 56-year-old has been a wildly successful head coach.
At the American Hockey League (AHL) level, Nelson led the Hershey Bears to back-to-back Calder Cup championships in 2023 and 2024. Those titles came less than a decade after he achieved the same success with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2017.
“I actually lost track of how many Calder Cups he’s actually won,” quipped Penguins head coach Dan Muse. “It’s crazy success that he’s had. And he’s done it while still developing players. Younger players coming up, he’s done it with older players, veteran players as well, and everything in between. So he’s got a great track record.”
Even with those triumphs, Nelson was surprised to be back in the NHL. Previously the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 — the season before superstar Connor McDavid arrived — Nelson has enjoyed stints in assistant roles with the Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars.
The appeal of being in the NHL versus the AHL is obvious. Yet, Nelson was perfectly content to remain with the dominant Bears.
“In the back of my mind, I’m thinking I’m still going to go back to Hershey. I really enjoy being a head coach,” Nelson said Friday in Cranberry. “We (Nelson and Muse) talked, and then he called me the day after that. We talked again, had a really good conversation. Then, two days later, they said, ‘Do you want to come in here and meet everybody in the organization?’ That’s what I did, and as the day went on — just talking with Dan and (president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas) — it just felt more intriguing to me.
“Then, they made me an offer. I talked to my wife about it. I’m (thinking) I spent quite a few years in the (AHL), had my degree of success there and I was up for the challenge (of) 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.”
Life in the AHL occasionally can go one of two ways. Some clubs, such as the Chicago Wolves, historically have loaded up on veterans and tried to simply win. Others, such as the Bridgeport Islanders, have focused on developing talent for their NHL affiliate.
Nelson excelled at both pursuits with the Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals.
There are some parallels to that duality with the rebuilding Penguins at the moment.
“It is a balance,” Nelson said. “In a place like Hershey — even Grand Rapids when I coached there — we have an obligation to the fans of Hershey to win hockey games. It’s a historical franchise. But we also have to develop players. Washington has done a great job of bringing veteran players to help us win and also tug along the young guys. … It’s a combination of both.
“Winning is a form of development. I’ve always said if you don’t have success at the minor-league level, how do you expect these kids to go up and play in the Stanley Cup playoffs and feel comfortable in those situations? It’s a balance. … It’s a balance between developing and winning.”
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Nelson’s specific duties with the Penguins will have him overseeing the forwards as well as the power play.
Given some of the firepower the Penguins typically deploy with the man advantage, Nelson’s work with that group will be under scrutiny immediately.
“So, right away, there’s pressure,” Nelson quipped. “Basically, you don’t have to overthink the power play. The biggest thing is working together, getting pucks to the net, attacking the net. 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 the biggest 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.”
Being around superstars with the Penguins isn’t a new experience for Nelson. Neither is his gratitude for being back in the NHL.
“It’s a tremendous honor to coach Sidney Crosby,” Nelson said. “All my friends at home are calling (saying) it’s unbelievable. Not just Sidney, a whole lot of good players here. You’re coaching at the highest level, so it’s just a really big honor for me.”