The Edmonton Oilers have been one of the NHL’s best teams for the last several seasons, and are rightfully recognized as such. Their top players, mainly Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard fill headlines on a daily basis, while Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Mattias Ekholm also receive their fair share of praise. One player who isn’t given credit nearly as often is Darnell Nurse.
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Nurse is a polarizing player in Edmonton, with many believing his $9.25 million is a wild overpayment for what he brings. They are right to an extent, but the criticism he gets for his contract often overshadows all the good he does on the blue line. Draisaitl mentioned just that after an outstanding performance from the 29-year-old defenceman in a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night (Dec. 10.)
“You guys should talk about him more,” Draisaitl said to a room full of reporters. “He’s been really, really, really good, like high end. You guys are really hard on him sometimes. He’s been amazing, maybe our best [defenceman] for a while now. He’s such a horse. You can’t beat him off the rush …It’s fun to watch.”
Nurse Playing Some of His Best Hockey
Nurse’s biggest issue is his consistency. The lows tend to be quite low, which often see him running around too much and result in him getting lost in his own end of the ice. There are plenty of highs, as well, though they never seem to be talked about nearly as often.
Nurse is in one of those highs right now, as he’s been playing exceptional hockey following a brief absence after taking a cheap shot from Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves. Since his return, he’s been an absolute monster on the Oilers’ back end, and, as Draisaitl said, arguably their best defenceman.
The veteran has logged more than 22 minutes in six of the seven games he’s played since returning from his upper-body injury. He hasn’t been a minus player once during that span, putting up a plus-5 rating in total. He now sits at plus-7 on the season, which is the highest total of all Oilers blueliners.
Despite playing in only 25 of the Oilers’ 28 games this season, Nurse leads the team with 50 blocked shots, while his 45 hits trail only Vasily Podkolzin’s 61. He’s managing the puck with ease, also, as his 2.70 giveaways per 60 are the second best of all Oilers defencemen, the only better being Ty Emberson’s 2.00.
Nurse’s 11 points on the season are tied with Ekholm for the second highest among Oilers defencemen, as is his average of 1:45 minutes per game on the penalty kill. As all the numbers indicate, when he’s on, he’s a player who can provide a positive impact at both ends of the ice.
Oilers Need Best Version of Nurse to Win Stanley Cup
The Oilers came into this season with heavy expectations to win the Stanley Cup after falling one game short of doing so in 2023-24. Nurse wasn’t at his best in last season’s playoff run, so it may seem like a stretch to some to suggest they need him at his best to win it all this upcoming year.
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What’s forgotten, however, is that the Oilers blue line has taken some serious hits. As much flak as he took, Cody Ceci was a very valuable penalty killer, as was Vincent Desharnais. Philip Broberg was also able to come in and play a big role part way through the Western Conference Final. Without those three, this blue line is weaker, meaning in order to win, they need the best version of Nurse. If he can keep playing the way he has these past few weeks, they could very well be hoisting the Stanley Cup this coming spring.
