Galbraith back with Panthers
He says the 27-year-old Canadian playmaker – who ended last season with a flourish as joint-second top scorer – is determined to prove a point to his critics.
And realising that "fitness was an issue" for the first part of last season, Galbraith will link up with Neilson at his hockey camp in Orangeville before flying into Britain.
"It was always important for me to keep the core, the nucleus of last season's team and Jade was a valuable part of that," said Neilson.
"The plan was to get a better goalie and we've done that; to get a better defence, and we've done that, too.
Last season we averaged five goals a game and Jade was one of those talents on the offence. He's the playmaker and always likely to make something happen.
"He's excited to be coming back and the rest of the guys want him back, too
"That's important to Jade because I know he got a little down at times last season."
When Galbraith arrived, it took time for him to adjust to the British game, which was not helped by his apparent lack of fitness.
Up until the new year, he tallied 33 points (11 goals + 21 assists) then followed up with 42 (12+30) for the rest of the season.
Neilson added: "Imagine what his stats would have been had he come in on the top of his game.
"But the style he plays is always going to frustrate some fans, which is unfortunate.
"I also think he needs to feel appreciated and at one stage, when he thought I was going to replace him, his game suffered.
"The supporters can be very hard, too, and that must have affected him.
"So I had a quiet word with him, telling him how much I believed in him and you could see straight away his confidence was lifted.
"He's so happy to be coming back and he wants a big year.
"He's never had two full years with one team in his entire pro career, so it is another boost for him to sign again.
"To emphasise his determination to do well, he will be coming to my training camp for a couple of weeks to give him a head start. "
Neilson also paid tribute to Galbraith's ability to pick up the slack when the team was hit by a succession of injuries.
At various times of the year, key forwards Dan Tessier, Johan Molin, David Clarke and Matthew Myers all had lengthy lay-offs which cost the team in their bid for honours.
Neilson said: "Jade carried the offensive load when those guys were out and kept us in with a shout for the title.
"He is the player to turn to come crunch time as he showed against Manchester in the play-offs.
"He single-handedly destroyed them. He had their defencemen turned inside out and picking up their jockstraps off the floor as he had them going all ways.
"Yes, he's that good and I believe the fans will be happy with what they see from Jade next season."
Jade Galbraith
Comment on this story