Todd Nelson

Todd Nelson (born May 15, 1969) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. He is currently serving as an assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played 3 games in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals between 1991 and 1994. The rest of his playing career, which lasted from 1990 to 2002, was mainly spent in the minor leagues.

Playing career Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1989 NHL entry draft, Nelson played primarily in the minors and played just one game for the Penguins. Signed as a free agent by the Washington Capitals, he helped guide the Capitals' minor league affiliate Portland Pirates to the Calder Cup in 1994. He was inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in 2007. Nelson played in just two games for the Washington Capitals, and played in the minors until his retirement in 2002.

Coaching career Following his professional hockey career, Nelson moved into coaching. He was first the assistant coach/player coach for the Muskegon Fury of the UHL for the 2001–02 season. He was then an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL for the 2002–03 season before returning as head coach of the Muskegon Fury from 2003 to 2006. The Fury won the Colonial Cup his first two years as their coach. He moved on to be the assistant coach for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL from 2006 to 2008, who won the Calder Cup in his final season as an assistant.

On July 25, 2008, he accepted an assistant coaching position with the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL.

On July 15, 2010, he was introduced as the first head coach of the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons, affiliate of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.

After the firing of Dallas Eakins on December 15, 2014, Nelson was promoted to head coach of the Oilers on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2014–15 NHL season. He was replaced as head coach by Todd McLellan on May 19, 2015.

On June 16, 2015, Nelson was named the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL). Nelson became the third person ever to win the Calder Cup as a player (1994), assistant coach (2008), and head coach (2017), joining Bob Woods and Mike Stothers.

On May 31, 2018, Nelson left the Griffins to become an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars in the NHL until his contract wasn't renewed on May 20, 2022.

On August 11, 2022, Nelson was named the head coach of the Hershey Bears. He is the 28th head coach in team history.

On June 21st, 2023, Nelson coached the Hershey Bears to their 12th Calder Cup Championship in his first season as the head coach, beating the Coachella Valley Firebirds in overtime in game seven. On June 24, 2024, Nelson coached the Bears to their 13th Calder Cup Championship in his second season as the head coach, beating Coachella Valley in overtime again. This series was decided in game six.

On June 20, 2025, Nelson was promoted to assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Personal life Nelson is the older brother of Jeff Nelson and Kerri Nelson-Brunen, and is the father of Colton Nelson, former Division III hockey player at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1985–86 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1986–87 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 35 1 6 7 10 4 0 0 0 0 1987–88 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 72 3 21 24 59 10 3 2 5 4 1988–89 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 72 14 45 59 72 4 1 3 4 4 1989–90 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 69 13 42 55 88 14 3 12 15 12 1990–91 Muskegon Lumberjacks IHL 4 20 24 32 3 0 0 0 4 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1991–92 Muskegon Lumberjacks IHL 80 6 35 41 46 14 1 11 12 4 1992–93 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 76 7 35 42 115 4 0 2 2 4 1993–94 Washington Capitals NHL 2 1 0 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 1993–94 Portland Pirates AHL 80 11 34 45 69 11 0 6 6 6 1994–95 Portland Pirates AHL 75 10 35 45 76 7 0 4 4 6 1995–96 Hershey Bears AHL 70 10 40 50 38 5 1 2 3 8 1996–97 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 81 3 18 21 32 5 1 0 1 0 1997–98 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 75 6 21 27 36 3 0 0 0 2 1998–99 Berlin Capitals DEL 44 5 10 15 26 — — — — — 1999–00 HIFK Helsinki FIN 4 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 1999–00 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 73 2 15 17 47 17 0 2 2 10 2000–01 Rochester Americans AHL 74 6 20 26 32 4 0 2 2 2 2001–02 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 7 0 2 2 8 — — — — — 2001–02 Muskegon Fury UHL 66 8 25 33 38 17 2 6 8 2 IHL totals 464 28 144 172 308 46 2 15 17 22 NHL totals 3 1 0 1 2 4 0 0 0 0

Coaching record – replaced midseason – midseason replacement

NHL TeamYearRegular seasonPostseasonGames Won Lost OTL Points Finish Won Lost Win % Result Edmonton Oilers 2014–15 51 17 25 9 .422 6th in Pacific — — — Missed playoffsNHL totals 51 17 25 9 .422 — — — —

Minor leagues TeamYearRegular seasonPostseasonGames Won Lost OTL Points Finish Games Won Lost Result Muskegon Fury 2003–04 76 47 20 9 103 3rd in Western 11 11 0 Won Colonial Cup Muskegon Fury 2004–05 80 51 20 9 111 1st in Central 17 12 5 Won Colonial Cup Muskegon Fury 2005–06 76 51 18 7 109 2nd in Central 12 6 6 Lost in second round Oklahoma City Barons 2010–11 80 40 29 11 91 5th in West 6 2 4 Lost in Division Semifinals Oklahoma City Barons 2011–12 76 45 22 9 99 1st in West 14 8 6 Lost in Conference Finals Oklahoma City Barons 2012–13 76 40 25 11 91 3rd in South 17 10 7 Lost in Conference Finals Oklahoma City Barons 2013–14 76 36 29 11 83 3rd in West 3 0 3 Lost in Conference Quarterfinals Grand Rapids Griffins 2015–16 76 44 30 2 90 4th in Central 9 5 4 Lost in Division Finals Grand Rapids Griffins 2016–17 76 47 23 1 100 2nd in Central 19 15 4 Won Calder Cup Grand Rapids Griffins 2017–18 76 42 25 9 93 2nd in Central 5 2 3 Lost in Division Semifinals Hershey Bears 2022–23 72 44 19 9 97 2nd in Atlantic 20 14 6 Won Calder Cup Hershey Bears 2023–24 72 53 14 5 111 1st in Atlantic 20 14 6 Won Calder Cup AHL totals 705 406 222 77 113 70 43 UHL totals 232 149 58 23 40 29 11

Awards WHL East Second All-Star Team (1989, 1990)