Why would they have to swap partners?
And they would both likely suck.
Ekholm was the primary reason why Bouchard turned his game around. Ekholm provided Bouchard with a rock solid D partner. A predictable D partner that made the right defensive read and the right play the vast majority of the time. That gave Bouchard some room to grow into becoming a better Dman.
Just think back to when Nurse and Bouchard were paired together. It was a disaster.
Why do you think that was? Nurse is a stallion...playing a simple game is not natural to him.
He is prone to going off on his own. That means stepping out of structure...puck watching...making poor reads and poor decisions. Being too single minded about how to approach playing in the D zone.
The exact type of D partner that causes a young D man like Bouchard to drown.
Exactly the wrong type of partner. This is why there were so many calls on here to get Nurse a stable D partner...regardless of whether he was with Ceci or Bouchard.
Its because Nurse didnt bring that element to the table so he needed a D partner to provide that.
Right now the coaching staff has managed to influence Nurse enough for him to play a more simple game. To have him resist the need to roam. To play a calmer game...more like Ekholm.
So far its working.
Will it have longevity?
We shall see because this type of game is not how Nurse is naturally wired.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.