Player Discussion Darnell Nurse is a #1 dman

[McDNicks17]

Jeez Louise. I meant why would he have to improve to match the contract as it ages? He’s making market value on an eight year deal.

By all accounts, Nurse is arguably the hardest working guy on the team. You don’t have to worry about him trying to improve.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Jeez Louise. I meant why would he have to improve to match the contract as it ages? He’s making market value on an eight year deal.

By all accounts, Nurse is arguably the hardest working guy on the team. You don’t have to worry about him trying to improve.

9.25 is market value? How? He’s one of the highest paid defensemen in the league!

Being a hard worker is great but if you don’t have the brains to back it up it’s meaningless.

 

[McDNicks17]

9.25 is market value? How? He’s one of the highest paid defensemen in the league!

Being a hard worker is great but if you don’t have the brains to back it up it’s meaningless.

Sure. In year 2 of the deal. There’s six more years with a massive cap jump in the middle.

He’d be making a lot less on a one or two year deal. That’s how long term deals work.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Sure. In year 2 of the deal. There’s six more years with a massive cap jump in the middle.

He’d be making a lot less on a one or two year deal. That’s how long term deals work.

We have no idea how much the cap is going to jump further down the road and Nurse is going to decline as a player. The Oilers need to upgrade their defense yesterday but can’t because Nurse takes up such a large portion of todays cap.

It’s a bad contract and one that could cost the Oilers a Cup. It would be easier to stomach if he was playing like the #1 he’s paid to be but he just isn’t that player. He’s never elevated his game in clutch time and in fact seems to crumble when the stakes are at their highest.

 

[guymez]

Jeez Louise. I meant why would he have to improve to match the contract as it ages? He’s making market value on an eight year deal.

By all accounts, Nurse is arguably the hardest working guy on the team. You don’t have to worry about him trying to improve.

Hard to fix 'dumb' though. Especially when he is well into his prime as a dman.

 

[Canovin]

9.25M will be the new 5M when the cap increases - Oilers fans dreams

 

[Soundwave]

Nurse doesn't deserve a dime more than what Ekholm gets. Ekholm is the better player.

 

[dustrock]

ITT: People who are shocked players are evaluated on their CAP hit in a salary CAP world.

If you are shocked by this, you must be new to North American sports or sports in general. Even in soccer, where there is no salary cap, players are constantly dragged for not living up to their wages.

To call it childlike to assess a players impact through a salary lens is one of the more ridiculous things ive heard on this board. I would actually call it naïve and unsophisticated to not consider a players cap hit when evaluating a player from a team building perspective.

When operating in a salary cap world, even if you are good player, if your cap exceeds your ability there is some detriment to the team. I think Nurse is a very good player, but I think at his his current skill level/cap hit he is hurting us from a team building perspective.

Right, but I think it's naive to expect a player to take less money. I think Nurse has plateaued but the criticism on the contract goes back to Chiarelli and Holland.

It's extremely easy to skewer Chiarelli, but 2 of his huge wins were the Draisaitl and Klefbom contracts.

We're going the same way with Bouchard now. Imagine having to pay him $9.25m in 4 years or whatever

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

If the

Nurse doesn't deserve a dime more than what Ekholm gets. Ekholm is the better player.

If there was another Ekholm out there, that had Nurse's cap hit, and were offered to swap the two, you'd be FREAKING insane not to make the trade. Ekholm at Nurse's caphit >>>>>>>>> Nurse.

 

[McShogun99]

If you had a players poll on who the better Dman is between Nurse and Ekholm then I think Nurse wins. Vegas players were ecstatic when Nurse got suspended for game 5. I'll bash Nurse's cap hit but he's the best D on our team and I would consider him a top 30 Dman in the league.

 

[dustrock]

As always, a real shame about Klefbom.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

If you had a players poll on who the better Dman is between Nurse and Ekholm then I think Nurse wins. Vegas players were ecstatic when Nurse got suspended for game 5. I'll bash Nurse's cap hit but he's the best D on our team and I would consider him a top 30 Dman in the league.

And then Nurse came back and didn’t make a difference.

 

[Soundwave]

And then Nurse came back and didn’t make a difference.

Game 6 Darnell Nurse

0 pts, 0 assists, -3

lulz

 

[Jamin]

Nurse doesn't deserve a dime more than what Ekholm gets. Ekholm is the better player.

I'm honestly shocked they went over 8.5mil. Figured Drai would be the internal cap and if Nurse doesn't accept 8.5×8 start looking if another team wants a different look on their back end and swap for another dman in a player for player trade and one team adds depending on the dman returning.

Adding Ekholm and what he makes and now seeing the Toews extension just makes the contract seem even worse then it already was (if such a thing is possible lol).

 

[McShogun99]

And then Nurse came back and didn’t make a difference.

He did but for Vegas....

 

[Victor000]

Ekholm is the best Dman on the team (and he isn't a #1 either).

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Right, but I think it's naive to expect a player to take less money. I think Nurse has plateaued but the criticism on the contract goes back to Chiarelli and Holland.

It's extremely easy to skewer Chiarelli, but 2 of his huge wins were the Draisaitl and Klefbom contracts.

We're going the same way with Bouchard now. Imagine having to pay him $9.25m in 4 years or whatever

I agree - completely unreasonable to expect a player to take less money.

But its also unreasonable for people not to view players through a salary caps lens when you are building a team in a salary cap world.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

I hope nobody actually thinks this team would do anything productive with an extra 2 or 3 million if he took a team-friendly deal right? We'd just blow it on a 3 mil contract for a plug like Yamamoto/Kassian/Kulak etc.

 

[guymez]

Every game provides examples of Nurses deficiencies. Its ongoing.
In the first minute of last nights game Nurse and Ceci were on the ice. The puck was on the back wall and Ceci had his man tied up behind the net. Nurse was out in front of the net.
Then, for some inexplicable reason, Nurse vacates the front of the net and decides to mark another Flyers player behind the net. So at this point both Ceci and Nurse are now behind the net.
No one is scoring from there but the most dangerous spot on the ice is now wide open thanks to that dumb decision by Nurse. The Flyers proceed to get a 10 bell scoring chance (from the very spot Nurse vacated) forcing Campbell to make a great save.
That shit just cant happen from a so called #1 dman. That shit just cant happen from a top 4 dman if this team expects to win a cup.
This is part of the package with Nurse. Its not going to change. The best we can hope for is that his D partner is able to compensate. That IMO is just a sad reality. How many championship caliber teams have to take that approach with their highest paid dman?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Every game provides examples of Nurses deficiencies. Its ongoing.
In the first minute of last nights game Nurse and Ceci were on the ice. The puck was on the back wall and Ceci had his man tied up behind the net. Nurse was out in front of the net.
Then, for some inexplicable reason, Nurse vacates the front of the net and decides to mark another Flyers player behind the net. So at this point both Ceci and Nurse are now behind the net.
No one is scoring from there but the most dangerous spot on the ice is now wide open thanks to that dumb decision by Nurse. The Flyers proceed to get a 10 bell scoring chance (from the very spot Nurse vacated) forcing Campbell to make a great save.
That shit just cant happen from a so called #1 damn. That shit just cant happen from a top 4 dman if this team expects to win a cup.
This is part of the package with Nurse. Its not going to change. The best we can hope for is that his D partner is able to compensate. That IMO is just a sad reality. How many championship caliber teams have to take that approach with their highest paid dman?

I mean at least he wasn't the worst D on the ice last night so that's a positive.

 

[Oilers10]

The thought of the type of player that could be on this team with his cap hit is depressing. Imagine this team with Rantanen, Josi, Makar or Hamilton along with mcdrai

 

[joestevens29]

Game Notes G6: Wild Struggling Defensively

Minnesota is the anti-Nashville for the Edmonton Oilers right now....

oilersnation.com

Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci have played quite well 5×5. They play the most minutes, play the toughest competition and they still have the lowest shots against/60 and goals against/60 among Oilers defenders. Often, I hear “but Nurse plays with McDavid, and that’s why his 5×5 totals are better.” Nurse has skated 92:53 at 5×5 this season. He’s skated 31:48 with McDavid. Of course, it helps playing with the league’s best player, but so far this season, McDavid’s numbers away from Nurse are worse than Nurse’s away from McDavid.

 

[Stoneman89]

For me, Bouchard has been the biggest issue on our defence this year, based on expecations. Followed by Ekholm (I think he's still struggling from his injury), and then Kulak, who you would think should be acing it based on his lower level competition.

Nurse is Nurse, and always will be. Sometimes, he seems to play so well and competent, and then has one of those WTF moments, which you can't believe are still in his game.

 

[Slats432]

Let's be EST and Dustin Nielson for a minute. Finish the sentence.

Darnell Nurse is a #1 dman____________________________________​

Let's be EST and Dustin Nielson for a minute. Finish the sentence.

Darnell Nurse is a #1 dman____________________________________​

On my Div 7 rec league team.

 

[McDeepika]

Probably the most under-rated Oiler I can think of since I was a fan. Horcoff probably the only other guy that comes to mind after he signed his contract.

Yes Nurse is overpaid by 1.5 mill but he is a very good player that we have no replacement for.