Darnell Nurse Appreciation Thread

[unicornBLOOD]

Since almost the minute Nurse signed his 8 year, 74 million contract, a lot of people have been upset about it. This post is to show appreciation to Nurse and everything that he has done for this team, and everything that he is going to do for this team. Nurse, up to this point, has outperformed every contract that he has signed with the Oil. He has brought more value than he has received compensation for IMO. The team, due cap restraints and mismanagement were not able to sign him to a long term deal until last offseason, due to these reasons. One thing is for sure, Darnell is the Oil's number 1 Dman, he might be our only top pairing Dman. He can play in every situation, plays hurt, plays tough, and without him, this team would be in a world of hurt. When he signed his monster deal, based on comparable contracts and stats, he earned that deal. In that shortened season, he was on pace for a 20 goal plus, 55 point, plus 40 season, while being one of the league leaders in ice time, and getting barely any PP time. Ya, last year was a bit of a step back, but he was still our best Dman. Sure, he might be overpaid by 1 - 1.25 million per, but if the option was to have Nurse overpaid by 15% or no Nurse, the answer is obvious. This team would be going nowhere without Nurse. I for one, am very happy that he is on the Oil, and that he signed the 8 year deal to stay with Edmonton.

I know a lot of this has been said and is obvious, but all the lists, worst contracts in the league, and chatter about how overpaid he is, just drives me crazy. This team NEEDS NURSE, simple as that.

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[Mr Positive]

I'm pretty excited to see Nurse this year.

I have always liked his game and thought of him a top pairing Dman. The year previous to last, he had elite stats in many ways. Last year, it was just strange all around. The team was just dysfunctional for that first half. Under Woodcroft, Nurse played a simpler game and was successful, and then got injured so had a rough playoffs (even though he was still a positive contributor believe it or not).

WIth a year fully healthy, after adjusting to Woody's system, I believe he will have another breakout year of sorts. I don't know if he'll be worth 9.25 but the deal is meant to get better as it goes along. The early years of big deals are always the roughest.

Ultimatley he is our only top pairing Dman, and our only chance at one unless we see some big leaps in Bouchard or Broberg. Thank god he is here.

 

[McAsuno]

I think a full year of Woodcroft + Manson along with him being healthy will do Nurse wonders.

 

[GMofOilers]

Best home grown Dman since the dynasty years.

Lots of people forget how he carried this team to the playoffs as a stud before the injury.

 

[ManofSteel55]

It's frustrating when people demand perfection from players. Nurse does a lot of things very well, but because he doesn't handle the puck like Makar does he gets bagged on. Dude is a top 15 defenseman and fools in our own fanbase say he is a bottom pairing defenseman.

Constantly insulting McDavids best buddy without reason isn't a good way to convince Connor to stay here forever like we need.

 

[Tyrolean]

Hopefully they can trade him for a better defensemen and cheaper.

 

[TheNumber4]

Nurses skating, range, and stick work can be elite at preventing zone entries and stuffing at the blue line.

Why he lets opposition enter the zone and then work in small areas to his disadvantage I don’t understand. I hope it’s a matter of bad coaching that can be easily corrected.

 

[OilerSuperstar17]

Nurse is 27 (28 in Feb), in his PRIME and will definitely live up to the contract. He willingly made an 8 year commitment when he easily could've tested free agency or signed a shorter term pact to potentially return home in a few years. Put some damn RESPECC on his name

 

[ManofSteel55]

Hopefully they can trade him for a better defensemen and cheaper.

There are maybe 15 better defensemen out there. They won't be able to trade for a better one, nor do they need to.

 

[Kerberos]

A shame we had a hobbled and clearly limited Nurse in the post-season last year. A fact that was well-known but conveniently ignored and overloooked by those who were looking for any excuse to continue airing their petty grievances against this player.

Nurse has made a habit of shutting them up and making them look silly though and I expect he'll do the same once again this season.

 

[Aerchon]

I am a Nurse supporter but this thread will/should do the exact opposite you intend.

Nurse has been grossly overpaid ever since his first negotiated contract. No amount of fluffing his performance will change that. 9.25 per year.... That's ROTFLMAO bad for what Nurse has shown to date.

Now that being said. Nurse is our best defenseman and the only thing worse than paying Nurse that rediculous money is not having him on the team.

There is still a chance he develops significantly enough to cover the spread. His injury riddled finish to last year is not an indication of what he is capable of either.

In time between massive inflation and development Nurse may well be worth his cap hit but if you are building a team to win a Stanley Cup Nurses contract is an albatross.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I am a Nurse supporter but this thread will/should do the exact opposite you intend.

Nurse has been grossly overpaid ever since his first negotiated contract. No amount of fluffing his performance will change that. 9.25 per year.... That's ROTFLMAO bad for what Nurse has shown to date.

Now that being said. Nurse is our best defenseman and the only thing worse than paying Nurse that rediculous money is not having him on the team.

There is still a chance he develops significantly enough to cover the spread. His injury riddled finish to last year is not an indication of what he is capable of either.

In time between massive inflation and development Nurse may well be worth his cap hit but if you are building a team to win a Stanley Cup Nurses contract is an albatross.

Oilers shouldn't have bridged him so many times and got burned when Jones/Werenski set the market, plus they bought all UFA years

 

[stewy04]

It's frustrating when people demand perfection from players. Nurse does a lot of things very well, but because he doesn't handle the puck like Makar does he gets bagged on. Dude is a top 15 defenseman and fools in our own fanbase say he is a bottom pairing defenseman.

Constantly insulting McDavids best buddy without reason isn't a good way to convince Connor to stay here forever like we need.

I think there are a lot of people on here who say they are fans but are just grumpy losers.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

You can think he's a good player and still think he's overpaid. However, if he's paid like one of the best dmen in the league, then he needs to be one. The AAV on his contract means he needs to win at least a Norris for it to be worth it or else be in contention year in year out if he's the 7th highest paid Dman in the NHL. You win the cup by managing the cap well and having players outperform their contracts and contracts like Nurse's make it significantly more difficult if they don't live up to it.

I like Darnell, I think he's a very good player. I also think he's overpaid by about 2m a season. That won't sink your team, but it doesn't help either.

 

[Beerfish]

Good player but does not play great often enough to warrant the contract but he was dealing with holland so it is not his fault that contract is so terrible.

Holland does not discriminate against other teams gms or agents he is a soft touch at the neg table for both equally.

 

[LTIR]

I appreciate Darnell Nurse the 5.6M per player.

 

[frag2]

It's frustrating when people demand perfection from players. Nurse does a lot of things very well, but because he doesn't handle the puck like Makar does he gets bagged on. Dude is a top 15 defenseman and fools in our own fanbase say he is a bottom pairing defenseman.

Constantly insulting McDavids best buddy without reason isn't a good way to convince Connor to stay here forever like we need.

I think that's a mental thing with Nurse though. He needs to realize he's not Makar [or Paul Coffey] and should stop trying to play like him. He can skate but he's not really that bright with the puck. Coupled with that albatross of a contract, can't really fault fans for being upset at his game.

I mean he's on the team long term so only thing fans can do is hope for the best.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Hopefully they can trade him for a better defensemen and cheaper.

Uhhh no thanks

You can think he's a good player and still think he's overpaid. However, if he's paid like one of the best dmen in the league, then he needs to be one. The AAV on his contract means he needs to win at least a Norris for it to be worth it or else be in contention year in year out if he's the 7th highest paid Dman in the NHL. You win the cup by managing the cap well and having players outperform their contracts and contracts like Nurse's make it significantly more difficult if they don't live up to it.

I like Darnell, I think he's a very good player. I also think he's overpaid by about 2m a season. That won't sink your team, but it doesn't help either.

He's been our top Dman and a top 15 Dman in the league so how is he not being one?

 

[Drivesaitl]

There are maybe 15 better defensemen out there. They won't be able to trade for a better one, nor do they need to.

Nurse is the Rodney Dangerfield of hockey. I remember people saying Klef was better, saying Larsson was better than Nurse ever was. Then people look down south and pretend a Tanev or Weegar is better.

I've never seen Weegar even play well in the playoffs. I've seen Darnell Nurse eat 60mins of a playoff game and look like he wants more. One of the best shutdown games I've seen a D play.

Nurse is a rugged good skating D with offensive panache and when healthy is a monster in his own end. He's the physical presence opponents know is on the ice and he's not often where opponents want to be. He's somebody that will punish you for taking space and will follow through on hurting you more if you want.

There aren't many things that Darnell isn't good at, or isn't capable of, but he almost always gets shorted here.

 

[Barrsy]

Nurse is the Rodney Dangerfield of hockey. I remember people saying Klef was better, saying Larsson was better than Nurse ever was. Then people look down south and pretend a Tanev or Weegar is better.

I've never seen Weegar even play well in the playoffs. I've seen Darnell Nurse eat 60mins of a playoff game and look like he wants more. One of the best shutdown games I've seen a D play.

Nurse is a rugged good skating D with offensive panache and when healthy is a monster in his own end. He's the physical presence opponents know is on the ice and he's not often where opponents want to be. He's somebody that will punish you for taking space and will follow through on hurting you more if you want.

There aren't many things that Darnell isn't good at, or isn't capable of, but he almost always gets shorted here.

The amount of stupidity & all round dumbassery when it comes to this guy, and his very significant contributions is astounding.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Nurse is the Rodney Dangerfield of hockey. I remember people saying Klef was better, saying Larsson was better than Nurse ever was. Then people look down south and pretend a Tanev or Weegar is better.

I've never seen Weegar even play well in the playoffs. I've seen Darnell Nurse eat 60mins of a playoff game and look like he wants more. One of the best shutdown games I've seen a D play.

Nurse is a rugged good skating D with offensive panache and when healthy is a monster in his own end. He's the physical presence opponents know is on the ice and he's not often where opponents want to be. He's somebody that will punish you for taking space and will follow through on hurting you more if you want.

There aren't many things that Darnell isn't good at, or isn't capable of, but he almost always gets shorted here.

Larsson only looked decent his last year here cause nurse took the much harder matchups.

 

[McDNicks17]

I've never understood not liking a player because they're overpaid. There's this weird expectation that players need to live up to their salary even if the GM clearly f***ed up and it's physically impossible for the player to reach the level the dollars dictate.

Holland f***ed up. You just have to accept that he'll be overpaid(at least for now) and enjoy the player we've got.

 

[K1984]

I've never understood not liking a player because they're overpaid. There's this weird expectation that players need to live up to their salary even if the GM clearly f***ed up and it's physically impossible for the player to reach the level the dollars dictate.

Holland f***ed up. You just have to accept that he'll be overpaid(at least for now) and enjoy the player we've got.

The worst is when people can't just be upset that the player is overpaid, but need to invent a narrative to make it easier to dislike the player for being overpaid.

Example:

"Nurse is SELFISH! He should have taken a lower contract to help the team! He should have been told to take a hike! He's not even a top 4 defenseman!"

Just infuriating, dumb, immature, ignorant nonsense.

 

[Barrsy]

The worst is when people can't just be upset that the player is overpaid, but need to invent a narrative to make it easier to dislike the player for being overpaid.

Example:

"Nurse is SELFISH! He should have taken a lower contract to help the team! He should have been told to take a hike! He's not even a top 4 defenseman!"

Just infuriating, dumb, immature, ignorant nonsense.

Hes stoooopid. He has nooooo hockey IQ.
Wut a f'infg trope

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Honestly the overpay isn't even thaaat big of an issue that we can't work around it. It's just the number is big and scares people off. A 3 million dollar being overpaid by 1.5 million seems a lot less scary than a 9.25 million dollar player being overpaid by 1.5 million (which is probably what Nurse is), it's just not as eye popping. But the reality is the 3 million dollar player is far more harmful b/c his on ice play gives us 50% of our money worth while the 9.25 million dollar player gives us 80% of our money worth. It's these mid-tier Kassian esque contracts that ultimately sink teams (which we are still handing out too, absolutely vomit inducing).

Nurse as overpaid as he is still fills arguably the most important role on our team. McDrai are better players, but we rely on Nurse just as much as them if not moreso due to how weak our defense depth is. Darnell Nurse is the one and only player in NHL history whose led the league in even strength+shorthanded minutes and quality of competition in the same year. Lidstrom can't say that. Doughty can't say that. Only Nurse can. He does this while having more #4/5 dmen as his partners like Bear/Barrie/Bouchard/Ceci over the years than true top pairing guys. We probably could've spent 9.25 million dollars better but if we do that we would have a giant gaping hole in our defense that would instantly flood open.

Best home grown Dman since the dynasty years.

Lots of people forget how he carried this team to the playoffs as a stud before the injury.

Not to mention he played over 60 minutes in a playoff game and came out on top. He is absolutely capable of showing up in the playoffs as well, just shitty circumstances this year.

Nurse is the Rodney Dangerfield of hockey. I remember people saying Klef was better, saying Larsson was better than Nurse ever was. Then people look down south and pretend a Tanev or Weegar is better.

I've never seen Weegar even play well in the playoffs. I've seen Darnell Nurse eat 60mins of a playoff game and look like he wants more. One of the best shutdown games I've seen a D play.

Nurse is a rugged good skating D with offensive panache and when healthy is a monster in his own end. He's the physical presence opponents know is on the ice and he's not often where opponents want to be. He's somebody that will punish you for taking space and will follow through on hurting you more if you want.

There aren't many things that Darnell isn't good at, or isn't capable of, but he almost always gets shorted here.

It's legit hilarious that people still believe that Klefbom/Larsson were better than him when he wrestled the high quality of competition matchups away from that pairing with... Kris Russell and Ethan Bear as his primary defense partners? This guy makes everyone he plays with look better than they actually are and gives every other defenseman on the team easier matchups. Is he on the level as true elite 1D like Makar/Fox/McAvoy? No, but there are less than 10 guys in the league who are. But is he that tier of strong top pairing dman/passable #1 dman in the tier below that? Absolutely.