Player Discussion Darnell Nurse is a #1 dman

[ManofSteel55]

Nurse had a great game against Seattle.

Ssshhhh. We're only supposed to talk about his mistakes around here.

 

[guymez]

Nurse had a great game against Seattle.

Yes he did. Good for him.
Its just one game though and a little consistency would be nice.

Lets see if he can be good in the majority of the games.

Thats a large part of why they are paying him $9.25M. To be a consistent reliable player.
Hopefully he can.
We shall see.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Yes he did. Good for him.
Its just one game though and a little consistency would be nice.

Lets see if he can be good in the majority of the games.

Thats a large part of why they are paying him $9.25M. To be a consistent reliable player.
Hopefully he can.
We shall see.

Consistency would be nice, but it isn't "just one game". He's had a number of great games this year. People ignore them though, and pile on when he has a bad one. Or worse, they say he had an awful game if he makes a single mistake.

I agree that he should be more consistent for the price we are paying him. But it would be nice to get a balanced criticism on him more often.

 

[guymez]

Consistency would be nice, but it isn't "just one game". He's had a number of great games this year. People ignore them though, and pile on when he has a bad one. Or worse, they say he had an awful game if he makes a single mistake.

I agree that he should be more consistent for the price we are paying him. But it would be nice to get a balanced criticism on him more often.

I am not sure if you are suggesting that my take is unbalanced or not.
I would like to think that I would acknowledge Nurses good games as well as the bad ones.

The thing is that Nurse has been very inconsistent this year with at least 1 or 2 (10 bell) mistakes per game.
On top of that there are multiple examples of Nurse maintaining very poor gap control...backing into the goalie...and making the wrong reads.
Now if you are suggesting that too many posters are jumping all over Nurse and want to see him fail...there is probably some truth to that.

That being said IMO this season Nurse has been part of the problem more often than not.

His inconsistency has been somewhat obscured statistically due to his playing with McDavid's line much of the time and the fact that this team historically was able to outscore their mistakes.

That being said...I would like nothing more than to see Nurse clean up his game.
Thats why I said that we shall see if he can string together a number of quality games.

As I have posted many times before...the day that Nurse actually makes his D partner better (like Ekholm does) is when I will start to see him in a new light. Especially for the ridiculous salary he is getting. A salary that is part of creating this teams cap issues.
Thats what grinds my gears...this is a player that is supposed to be a buffer...a player that has the ability to insulate the team from the weaker players. To compensate for some team weaknesses defensively.
Instead far too often the is part of the problem. For $9.25M that is just unacceptable.

In any event we shall see how this plays out. Although I am skeptical I am still hoping for the best possible outcome

 

[TheNumber4]

Early returns on Coffey and the whole locker room defenceman move lookin good for Nurse. Hopefully this is the start a new more mature and inpactful Nurse.

 

[oldtimersask]

Completely disagree.
Nurse has been very inconsistent this year with at least 1 or 2 (10 bell) mistakes per game.
On top of that there are multiple examples of Nurse maintaining very poor gap control...backing into the goalie...and making the wrong reads.

This season (and arguably ever since his inflated deal kicked in) Nurse has been part of the problem more often than not.

I dont see anything unbalanced about that at all. Its been somewhat obscured statistically due to his playing with McDavid's line much of the time and the fact that this team historically was able to outscore their mistakes.

That being said...I would like nothing more than to see Nurse clean up his game.
Thats why I said that we shall see if he can string together a number of quality games.

As I have posted many times before...the day that Nurse actually makes his D partner better (like Ekholm does) is when I will start to see him in a new light. Especially for the ridiculous salary he is getting. A salary that is part of creating this teams cap issues.
We shall see how this plays out...time will tell.

I believe people are seeing Nurse skating with the puck at a higher frequency than he did last year, and that is enough for them to determine he is now playing 'good' instead of 'bad'. However, he is horrible in our own zone, seemingly always making the wrong play. My hope is one day he will calm down enough to think the game fast enough and be a real useful guy out there. Most of our D suffer from thinking too slowly and hesitating until all of their options are gone.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

I believe people are seeing Nurse skating with the puck at a higher frequency than he did last year, and that is enough for them to determine he is now playing 'good' instead of 'bad'. However, he is horrible in our own zone, seemingly always making the wrong play. My hope is one day he will calm down enough to think the game fast enough and be a real useful guy out there. Most of our D suffer from thinking too slowly and hesitating until all of their options are gone.

far and away the thing that annoys me about Nurse is how many offensive plays die on his stick because he elects to fling a soft floater into the goalie's chest instead of show any creativity or patience. I've seen McDavid look annoyed by this a couple times this season.

NHL goalies are simply too good to be beaten by point shots unless they're screened or tipped. If they see it, they're gonna stop it. If you're going to flick a wrister on net, at very least keep it low and hope for a rebound.

 

[guymez]

I believe people are seeing Nurse skating with the puck at a higher frequency than he did last year, and that is enough for them to determine he is now playing 'good' instead of 'bad'. However, he is horrible in our own zone, seemingly always making the wrong play. My hope is one day he will calm down enough to think the game fast enough and be a real useful guy out there. Most of our D suffer from thinking too slowly and hesitating until all of their options are gone.

Nurse has such a great toolbox. He physical abilities are top notch.
I agree about him making the wrong play far too often. So many examples of that this season.
Its unacceptable for a dman thats being paid to be a #1 dman.

I am with you and I too hope that one day he will calm his game down. Play within himself.
Although at 28 years old (soon to be 29) one could also argue that ship has sailed. He is what he is and the best we can hope for is to find a dman that can help calm his game down.
So the team is left with trying to find a quality dman to make their $9.25M dman better.
That is not a situation that a so called Stanley Cup contender should have to deal with.
Its not a desirable situation at all and its one of a few undesirable situations that Kenny Holland has created in his tenure.

 

[oldtimersask]

far and away the thing that annoys me about Nurse is how many offensive plays die on his stick because he elects to fling a soft floater into the goalie's chest instead of show any creativity or patience. I've seen McDavid look annoyed by this a couple times this season.

NHL goalies are simply too good to be beaten by point shots unless they're screened or tipped. If they see it, they're gonna stop it. If you're going to flick a wrister on net, at very least keep it low and hope for a rebound.

They play different positions, but the amount of times Nurse and McLeod both give away possession in the offensive zone to gain a + corsi along the perimeter of the left side of the ice is staggering. The fact this hasn't been fixed after a few years troubles me.

Hey, maybe it's inconsequential and guys like you and I seeing it happen are worrying about something unimportant, but you'd think either our analysis is wrong or for some reason the coaching staff hasn't yet identified and addressed it.

 

[guymez]

far and away the thing that annoys me about Nurse is how many offensive plays die on his stick because he elects to fling a soft floater into the goalie's chest instead of show any creativity or patience. I've seen McDavid look annoyed by this a couple times this season.

NHL goalies are simply too good to be beaten by point shots unless they're screened or tipped. If they see it, they're gonna stop it. If you're going to flick a wrister on net, at very least keep it low and hope for a rebound.

For sure.
Nurse is definitely not in Bouchards class when it comes to creating offence in the O-zone.
He is good at rushing the puck up ice though.

 

[ManofSteel55]

I am not sure if you are suggesting that my take is unbalanced or not.
I would like to think that I would acknowledge Nurses good games as well as the bad ones.

The thing is that Nurse has been very inconsistent this year with at least 1 or 2 (10 bell) mistakes per game.
On top of that there are multiple examples of Nurse maintaining very poor gap control...backing into the goalie...and making the wrong reads.
Now if you are suggesting that too many posters are jumping all over Nurse and want to see him fail...there is probably some truth to that.

That being said IMO this season Nurse has been part of the problem more often than not.

His inconsistency has been somewhat obscured statistically due to his playing with McDavid's line much of the time and the fact that this team historically was able to outscore their mistakes.

That being said...I would like nothing more than to see Nurse clean up his game.
Thats why I said that we shall see if he can string together a number of quality games.

As I have posted many times before...the day that Nurse actually makes his D partner better (like Ekholm does) is when I will start to see him in a new light. Especially for the ridiculous salary he is getting. A salary that is part of creating this teams cap issues.
Thats what grinds my gears...this is a player that is supposed to be a buffer...a player that has the ability to insulate the team from the weaker players. To compensate for some team weaknesses defensively.
Instead far too often the is part of the problem. For $9.25M that is just unacceptable.

In any event we shall see how this plays out. Although I am skeptical I am still hoping for the best possible outcome

Oh no, I wasn't taking a shot at your take at all, my apologies for the confusion. I always respect your opinions guymez. My apologies if I was unclear.

 

[klefbombs shoulder]

I believe people are seeing Nurse skating with the puck at a higher frequency than he did last year, and that is enough for them to determine he is now playing 'good' instead of 'bad'.

I wish Nurse would skate the puck out and through the NZ more often. He is a phenomenal skater and a bit of an inconsistent passer.

 

[Drivesaitl]

So I actually predicted Nurse and the entire D were bound to be a lot better under any other coaching regimen, or even having one.

Nurse had never dropped off as much under any other coach. Woodcroft and Manson were not helping, at all, on the D front.

Its as if people forgot how good Darnell was playing the whole time under Tippett and prior coaches.

All of the D seem to be having more greenlight now, having fun, and being able to be more part of the games.

it certainly wasn't fun or productive being a D here under Woodcroft/Manson.

 

[guymez]

Oh no, I wasn't taking a shot at your take at all, my apologies for the confusion. I always respect your opinions guymez. My apologies if I was unclear.

No apologies necessary.
I just wasnt sure how to take your post.
I dont consider myslef a Nurse basher. I just get frustrated with him as a player and expect much more form him. Especially with his contract.
I agree with you...a balanced view is preferable.
So its all good.

 

[booyakasha]

Nope. The annoyance stems from his poor play. His job there was not to play the "system". I watched Vegas last nite and do you really think every play of every second is a "system"?
I watched several VGS dmen jump routes last nite. As i watch dmen do every nite across the NHL.
That play was 100% on Nurse for not stepping up on the lone player, and the "system" was irrelevant in thst moment.

It's called adjustments, and all good players have to make them all the time

that pass..

 

[bobbythebrain]

that pass..

Lol. Bouchard has made 4 of those this season.

It was a nice pass tho

 

[CornKicker]

that pass..

set play off a faceoff win, nuge fakes wide to make the D move and cuts middle. perfect pass

 

[TheNumber4]

that pass..

According to Nuge, Nurse called that play pre-face-off too. “It was all Nursey” the Nuge put it. That shows signs he’s trying to be more assertive.

Knob talked about how Coffey was trying to get him to be more assertive. To use his elite ability to close in on opponents and make a play more often. Saw alot of that last game, Nurse was a Beast.

 

[McDNicks17]

According to Nuge, Nurse called that play pre-face-off too. “It was all Nursey” the Nuge put it. That shows signs he’s trying to be more assertive.

Knob talked about how Coffey was trying to get him to be more assertive. To use his elite ability to close in on opponents and make a play more often. Saw alot of that last game, Nurse was a Beast.

People might end up eating crow about the Coffey hire.

Noticed a lot of good things from the D that they weren't doing with the other coaching staff. Hell, even Desharnais was taking his time looking for a pass instead of instantly rimming it around the boards last night.

 

[TheNumber4]

People might end up eating crow about the Coffey hire.

Noticed a lot of good things from the D that they weren't doing with the other coaching staff. Hell, even Desharnais was taking his time looking for a pass instead of instantly rimming it around the boards last night.

I’m optimistic with Coffey. Especially considering Manson didn’t seem to be getting the job done. Our D were making the same repeated mistakes over and over with no signs of changing. The PK also took a dive immediately after switching from Playfair to Manson, although I think Mark Stuart runs the PK now.

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

I was wrong. He is starting to look like a #1Dman now. I didn't know he could move the puck.

 

[K1984]

I’m optimistic with Coffey. Especially considering Manson didn’t seem to be getting the job done. Our D were making the same repeated mistakes over and over with no signs of changing. The PK also took a dive immediately after switching from Playfair to Manson, although I think Mark Stuart runs the PK now.

I wonder how much Woodcroft was involved in the PK.

One of the things that had me concerned when we originally hired Woodcroft was our abysmal special teams performance on both sides of the puck when he was in charge of it as an assistant. I believe we had among the worst (if not the worst) PP and PK in the league at the time.

Gulutzan had the PP so we know who did good there, but the fall off in PK from Tippett to Woodcroft was stark and I’m sure Woody had something to do with it.

 

[TheNumber4]

I wonder how much Woodcroft was involved in the PK.

One of the things that had me concerned when we originally hired Woodcroft was our abysmal special teams performance on both sides of the puck when he was in charge of it as an assistant. I believe we had among the worst (if not the worst) PP and PK in the league at the time.

Gulutzan had the PP so we know who did good there, but the fall off in PK from Tippett to Woodcroft was stark and I’m sure Woody had something to do with it.

Not sure, but it seems Woody was the one that identified he needed help for the PK and sought out to hire Mark Stuart (on reccommendation from his brother Todd Woodcroft)

 

[Dazed and Confused]

He's definitely been more assertive with the puck since the coaching change, and looking to headman the puck far quicker.

Woody/Manson were pretty quick to pair Nurse and Ceci and use them as the go-to defensive pairing, letting Barrie and Bouchard drive the offence. Seeing the personal they had, that made sense (even if Nurse and Ceci were a miscast in the role). But when Barrie was moved, W&M continued with Nurse-Ceci as purely a safe pairing. One that focused on limiting what they gave up vs. on what they could create.

Imo asking Nurse to focus on playing a safe and structured game robs him of a best attribute to use his skating to push the play. I mean, he can play that game, he'll just look average-at-best doing it. A bit like "checking line centre" RNH. If you want a defenceman to fill that role, it should be Ekholm.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I’m optimistic with Coffey. Especially considering Manson didn’t seem to be getting the job done. Our D were making the same repeated mistakes over and over with no signs of changing. The PK also took a dive immediately after switching from Playfair to Manson, although I think Mark Stuart runs the PK now.

I was flamed here for suggesting that Manson had difficulty being vocal or saying anything on the bench. (for obvious reasons) it wasn't a knock on Manson, just that he can't be heard. In what is a vocal position.

Coffey and KK much better at communicating on bench then predecessors and resulting in more D and team communication too on ice and on bench.