The Edmonton Oilers face a crucial personnel issue in the performance of defenseman Darnell Nurse. Host Nick Zararis breaks down Nurse’s performance in the early stages of the Oilers’ season revealing concerning impacts on the team’s stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Nick explores the complex team dynamics surrounding the situation and why it isn’t just as easy as Kris Knoblauch changing Nurse’s role in the lineup.
3:07 Nurse’s skating ability and baseline skills
6:40 Issues with Nurse and Stetcher pairing
9:43 Underlying numbers show Nurse struggling
14:50 McDavid and Draisaitl’s stats with Nurse
19:58 The awkward situation for Oilers management
24:34 Balancing veteran status vs on-ice performance
27:07 Jake Walman’s return could help Nurse
The Edmonton Oilers have a Darnell Nurse problem | Why the Oilers need more from Nurse
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39 Comments
We’ve had a Darnell nurse problem for the last 3 seasons.
Send him to the minors, get the 1.15 million saved and bring a guy up that can get it out of the zone without blind passes that are always picked off. Give Leppanen a try at it, I think he might show more urgency.
Darnell Nurse.
The single most overrated & protected by the media player in Edmonton Oilers history.
12 years in, and still makes AHL-level mistakes. Always in the wrong position. Bad reads. Competes when he feels like it.
Why is he so revered?
Is it because he can hit sometimes?
Is it because he can fight?
Is it because he was such a high draft pick?
Is it because he's "Good in the community?"
Is it the Chopped Leaf commercials?
$9.25M for barely a third-pairing Dman on a pretty good team.
And the media in EDM protects him, have for years…but they want to run Bouchard out of town. Madness!
Management caused problems. Overpaid on nurse and Bouchard. Let go of broberg
Nurse has tongo
I got slammed all the time on Reddit six years ago by Nurse apologists. He’s the same player today he was then. Too stubborn to change. Meanwhile Oilers prioritize bros before hoes (cups). Teammates are the worst enablers.
Only a Nurse Problem? And a Bouchard Problem, and a Skinner Problem, and a McDrai Problem, and a Knoblauch Problem, …
We need to find you a good impact sound effect for when your 'Locked On' graphic hits – it can match the animations impact with a sound
We've consistently had to drop his minutes in the playoffs. It fills me with dread to say that I don't think we can win the stanley cup with this contract in our top 4.
This situation is not solvable. He always will have enough flashes of good games to stay in the lineup. Coaches never have done a GM's bidding to such a large degree. He has a full NMC and is best friends with the main core of the team. He is not a buyout option. He's staying regardless
However, of course if Walman takes his spot so be it. Up to this point, Nurse has not been forced up the depth chart artifically for optics. Whenever they tried that with guys like Kulak, their game has looked worse than Nurse
Bruuuuh… You have one of the worst ‘main player syndromes’ I’ve seen.
Go back and listen to just this episode alone and tally how many times you say ‘I’.
It’s literally three or four times a sentence. You talk like you’re some kind of philosophical hockey ace instead of a dude ranting in a closet.
Nurse is abjectly horrible though, so no argument there.
I didnt waste 2 7 minutes of my life on this video…We all know Nurse has and will always suck as a pro hockey player.
Oilers have a knob problem. Get rid of him!
Mcdavid has to tell Nurse he is no loner wanted for the team.
What else is new ?
He's too dumb to play smart – same as me, but i am not earning millions every year.
THANK YOU KEN HOLLAND !
Nobody can play with Nurse. He only makes his partner worst. A 5/6 D getting paid 9.25M, thanks to the f**king Holland. Oilers win the cup after getting rid of Nurse and Skinner.
Just hand them the next 6 1st pick that should fix it right ? 😂😂😂
Oilers seem slow. I would like to see more skating (getting open), shorter shifts. And more bodies in front of the opponent's net wouldn't hurt.
Love the Yankees hat on an Oilers podcast
A whole room full of elephants.
The Oilers have had a Darnell Nurse problem since before the ink dried on his last contract. I don't think anyone would complain if he was paid like the third pairing defensman that he is.
Apparently, this is a true story… Nurse sincerely ask Coffey if he should just become a stay at home, shutdown defensemen, but Coffey said "No, Be both!" So Nurse continues to do what he does, make mistakes with ill advise pinch ins, gamble offensively in the OZone, bad reads overall. Maybe Knoblauch needs to revisit that question with Nurse, and say…. "Yes we want you to be a defensive – shutdown defensemen! Forget about what Coffey said!" And this to me is the problem with Nurse… He's not an offensive defensemen like he thinks he is, he doesn't have the hockey IQ nor the skillset to be one. But he does have the skillset to become a defensive shutdown defensemen who plays against other teams top players. In fact he should have a goal to play alongside Bouchard on #1 pairing, as Ekholm is starting to slow down imo. If Nurse could be convinced to playing a simple defensive game, he could really be effective imo. He just might even earn that 9.3 mill.
His contract isn't bulletproof. The NMC changes to a 10 team no trade list after next season, so he will likely be gone then. There will probably be salary retention, but it will be better than the cost to buy him out.
Make him a winger. Hes big tell him to hit people. It worked for Big Buff. Cant be worse
I actually disagree. Nurse does NOT want to be better. How do I know that? 12+ years in the League and he literally (!) plays like he did in his first season. He has not improved any aspect of his game. Zero. Why would he try and be better? $9.25M a year, and a local media that REVERS him and protects him, no matter how poorly he plays. He is completely protected and insulated from criticism.
How about the fact that McDavid is wholey responsible for the nurse contract and the overinflated price they've paid for him. He has not improved enough to help this team get to where they wanna be. They gotta move on from nurse, or no cup.
I JUST subscribed after this confirming critique Well Done ! THE TRUTH BABY !
Agree nurse is several million problem
Calgary Flames fan here, send us Nurse, Skinner and your 2027 and 2028 firsts for Huberdeau.
unfortunately he has been a big problem…. if one looked at all the playoffs…. it is clear how he keeps making very very bad position & thinking errors, esp if any pressure.
he has abilities… which makes it confusing to consider all aspects… but at $9.25m/yr (pd him $90mi or so…. ) – he has been a major 'taker' from the fans & team (unfortunately as he seems to have good intentions)
Literally the worst dman in the league. I can't find one, on any team, worse than he is. It's truly amazing. Bouchard isn't very far behind him. And I'm a 40 year oil fan.
Not only Darnell Nurse but Evan "Puck Giveaway" Bouchard as well!
The Oilers D Zone is an Ibiza Holiday for opposing teams. I never saw a single body check from the Oilers in last night's game, opposing forecheckers or players have literally zero fear crossing the blueline. Everybody knows its free entry into the zone…everyone comes in quicker. closing the gap sooner. Florida wrote the book on how to beat the Oilers, close the gap quickly, play a composed rat pest game, buzzing bees, and wait for the Oilers D to cave.
You need to Jack Campbell Nurse. When your physical element puts zero fear in opposing players. He never body checks, all he does is joust in front of the net with opposing players providing a screen. There needs to be an advanced stat for screens created by a D man.
Number 1 there is a trade clause 2 nobody wants him so can they bury him??😢😢😢
Nurse is negative 3, has 2 assists, and isnt stumbling around on the ice.
He made alot of good defensive plays, he gets the puck out more than Bouchard and kulak.
He holds the zone and jumps up when needed.
The only thing that I dont see him doing is scoring, he isnt looking good right now because nobody on the ice can finish. The only one who is really bad and deserves the harsh criticism is Bouchard.
Its a matter of good finishes. He uses his speed, and is aggressive.
ffs he has 4 mins in the box.
In 7 games
I'll echo some thoughts I've seen over the past year or so. Nurse would be a pretty damn valuable defenseman if he just made more smarter plays. Too often his instinct is to dump the puck. Bouchard before yesterday's game had the opposite problem: he was trying to make the kind of plays he's just not all that well equipped to do.
I have always said: NURSE is dumb player. overpaid…His hockey IQ along wiht Sloppy Skinner NEED TO GO. Oilers need to move him NOW
Sarah>Darnell