A hulking body on the back end, Nielsen skates surprisingly well for a man of his stature. His long, powerful strides motor him across the ice, allowing him to jump into the play and catch other team’s off guard. His lateral work and fine motor functions are not elite by any means, but he does well with keeping up to speed. Nielsen provides some offensive punch and gets a lot of opportunity to do so on a weak Lethbridge team. He has got a hard point shot, which finds the net consistently. He isn’t afraid to shoot the puck and can really pound it on the net. His puck handling skills are simple but with a Jekyll and Hyde-type of consistency. At times he is comfortable pinching into the offensive zone, fending off defenders with his long reach and protecting the puck well. He is a crisp passer, but struggles with accuracy. He seems to be a smart, heads up player with good vision, but sometimes the skill doesn’t seem to translate to the ice. He plays a hard physical style and is good at tying guys up, not allowing opponents any easy outs in battles. His positioning at times is the biggest concern as he tends to be a guy who will get caught up with the puck carrier and get drawn out of position. His gap control is also a weakness as he seems to allow too much room for opposing forwards to create with the puck. (May 2015)