Dallas Stars Rumors: Stars Interested In Todd Nelson As Assistant Coach

A major decision that the Dallas Stars must make over the next few weeks is the hiring of assistant coaches. But with a new head coach and a general manager open to options, who are the candidates? One strong option has to be Todd Nelson.

The Dallas Stars seem to have started a small trend for the NHL on May 4. That’s the day that they hired Jim Montgomery to be their new head coach.

Montgomery has yet to coach a hockey game at the professional level (NHL or AHL). He was hired out of the University of Denver and while his resume is stacked, it’s anyone’s guess as to how his NHL career will go.

At the time of the hiring, “Monty” was only the fifth coach in hockey history to jump directly from college to the NHL. It isn’t a natural occurrence, with Dave Hakstol being the fourth coach to make the jump in 2015.

But now, another team is following suit and joining in on the risk in hopes of a big reward. On Wednesday morning, the New York Rangers announced the hiring of Dave Quinn as their next head coach. Quinn most recently coached at Boston University and will now be the sixth coach to jump from college to NHL.

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So while the Dallas Stars are playing along with this new phenomenon, their work is still unfinished. The next requirement on their offseason to-do list happens to deal with the hiring of assistant coaches.

During the 2017-18 season, Ken Hitchcock had a staff of three assistant coaches. They included Curt Fraser (who served with Lindy Ruff), Rick Wilson (who served with Hitchcock in the late ’90’s), and Stu Barnes (a former Dallas Stars player and assistant coach).

But with a new coach in place, anything can happen. Wilson recently retired after a long and stellar career in the NHL that involved heavily influencing the shape of the Dallas Stars.

What about Barnes and Fraser though? They will both get their fair chance at interviewing with Montgomery for the assistant jobs, but the door is open. And that’s where Todd Nelson could come in.

According to Craig Custance of The Athletic, Nelson is currently listening to offers for assistant jobs in the NHL and the Dallas Stars have shown interest.

You may be asking who this Todd Nelson guy is right now, so let me explain.

Nelson has been coaching hockey since 2001 when he started in the UHL with the Muskegon Fury.  And since then, he’s been all around the AHL and NHL. He served as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-2010 and also served as the interim head coach for the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 after the team fired Dallas Eakins.

But for the past three seasons, he’s been the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL (the Red Wings affiliate). With the Griffins, he owns a 133-78-17 record and already has a Calder Cup championship under his belt from the 2016-17 season.

So he knows how to find success rather quickly. And now that the Stars are reportedly interested in bringing him on board, would it be a good idea?

Not only would it be a good idea, but it could very quickly become a great idea. With no more NHL head coach openings, Nelson is still apparently looking for a way into the league. With plenty of assistant jobs open at the moment and opening over the next few weeks, his options seem plentiful.

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But if the Dallas Stars can rally him in and get him on board, it’s good for a few reasons. One of those is that the average age will dip down significantly behind the Stars’ bench. Montgomery is only 48 and Nelson is just barely ahead at 49. This could very quickly build a future for the Dallas Stars’ bench or at least give them promise before a coach like Nelson moves onto a head coaching gig.

The other good effect would be having Nelson’s mind working on the Stars game plan. It was assumed that Nelson was a potential candidate for the Dallas head coaching gig before they went with Montgomery. After all, his success rate is very impressive.

But it also has to do with the relationship he has and the reaction he gets from his players. He keeps things innovative and aggressive, but has a way of getting his players to buy in quickly. They trust him to get the job done based on how he uses them.

Nelson is a bit of a wild card, which is good. As reported by Custance, Nelson doesn’t necessarily follow a specific protocol. If he sees a play he likes on YouTube that no other team is running, he’s all for trying to implement it. On his power plays, he can throw four forwards and one defenseman in the mix or go with a 3D-2F setup. And somehow, he always finds a way to make his man advantage consistently successful.

If the Dallas Stars choose to bring Nelson on board as an assistant, they will definitely be getting a good one. He’s a proven winner that knows how to level with his players and get the most out of them. And on top of that, he’s unpredictable.

But it’s highly likely that the Stars won’t be the only team in line for an interview. But if Nelson sees the potential that the team possesses and follows Montgomery’s keenness, they might have a fighting chance at landing him.

Next: Montgomery's Coaching Style Could Fit Stars Well

The Stars could really revamp their coaching staff with the hiring of Nelson. It could open up new doors for both their team and the coaches. And sometimes, new doors can lead to wonderful things.