Selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round (No. 90) of the 2010, Nordstrom played a small role on the Chicago Blackhawks' championship team in 2015 with three assists in 38 regular-season games. However, the Stockholm native played a big role in the Stanley Cup celebration at Soldier Field.

With teammate Kris Versteeg at his side, Nordstrom got the crowd going when he started rapping out the backbeat to Macklemore's "And We Danced."

Three months later, on Sept. 11, 2015, Nordstrom and Versteeg were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, where Nordstrom came into his own with an NHL career high in goals (10), assists (14) and points (24) in 71 games. The center also played a regular role on the Hurricanes penalty-killing unit that ranked sixth in the NHL (84.3 percent).

After two more seasons in Carolina, Nordstrom signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent on July 1, 2018. In his first season with the Bruins, he had 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 70 regular-season games, and eight points (three goals, five assists) in 23 playoff games to help Boston advance to the Cup Final, where it lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games.