He showed a lot of improvement from his freshman season at North Dakato to his sophomore season. I thought he looked solid at the WJC's during his freshman season, though they had him on the 4th line. Right after that, during the second half of his freshman season , his play really picked up. Then at the rookie scrimmage after his freshman season, he looked awesome, clicked with Anders Lee. His sophomore season was downright dominant. Then he had an excellent first pro season with Bridgeport.
I think with Nelson, it only takes a small amount of time with him before it clicks, and then he adjusts. And when he adjusts, he always produces. He's already having a fine rookie season in the NHL, and does not look out of place with Tavares. He's a hard worker with excellent hockey sense, has good hands and good offensive instincts. I think eventually he can be a 25 goal 60 point kind of player. That also adds good defensive play, and hard corner work. A few times this season I've seen him shrug off checks with his strength, and a few times skate around defensemen on the outside, which used to be a weakness of his. The sky's the limit for this kid, he just knows how to play the game.