Player Discussion Darnell Nurse is a #1 dman

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I don't disagree the pairing sucks. I'm just saying playing with everyone's favorite ghost is definitely going to magnify that.

Like that graph is pointing at a 53% drop in the team's xGA/60 without Nurse/Ceci meanwhile their xGA/60 drops over 150% without RNH haha.

But it's not like RNH is making them do terrible decisions like constant icings and bad pinches. Like how many times do they have to pinch needlessly before they learn? They both don't have any offensive upside so what are they pinching for?

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

I don't understand how the coaching staff, who has access to these analytics and probably way more / sophisticated keeps trotting these 2 out together. Get nurse a puck mover and that pair will surge. Also turns them into a bigger scoring threat and can actually move pucks to the bottom 6-9 forwards for better scoring opportunities.

Barrie would be a good partner. Shoot Ceci into the sun.

 

[McDNicks17]

But it's not like RNH is making them do terrible decisions like constant icings and bad pinches. Like how many times do they have to pinch needlessly before they learn? They both don't have any offensive upside so what are they pinching for?

It's just being forced to do more of what they suck at.

Like if I suck at BBQing steaks, making me cook 10 of them instead of 1 is going to make me end up with a whole lot more burnt steaks.

 

[Shanahanigans]

It’s legitimately hilarious how badly Holland f***ed up the Nurse contract.

Ekholm completely blows him out of the water.

He bridged him to sign Chiasson the first time around. Then in his UFA year, he took Keith with no money retained so Chicago could sign Jones to the 9.25 Million contract, which the Nurse camp used as a comparable. Nevermind that Nurse was never the Dman that Jones was. What a hilariously bad sequence of events.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

He bridged him to sign Chiasson the first time around. Then in his UFA year, he took Keith with no money retained so Chicago could sign Jones to the 9.25 Million contract, which the Nurse camp used as a comparable. Nevermind that Nurse was never the Dman that Jones was. What a hilariously bad sequence of events.

Absolutely. A mess entirely of his own making.

 

[Broberg Speed]

He bridged him to sign Chiasson the first time around. Then in his UFA year, he took Keith with no money retained so Chicago could sign Jones to the 9.25 Million contract, which the Nurse camp used as a comparable. Nevermind that Nurse was never the Dman that Jones was. What a hilariously bad sequence of events.

Shenanigans from the very top. I don't believe Chiarelli or Holland were that incompetent.

It's too far fetched. How can every single poster on a hockey board know all these moves they made were garbage the second they made them?

Those individuals who agreed with the moves were either confederates or poor brain f***ed individuals that were and still are struggling with severe cognitive dissonance. We've all been there. If your an Oiler fan you've been there.

They knew more than the hockey professionals in management with a goddamned century of accumulated hockey knowledge at their disposal, all the f***ing analytics too I will add to keep the advanced stat boys attentive... how could they not know these decisions were insane and franchise crippling.

This was all on Bettman and the board of governors, pulling the strings to maximise revenue.

 

[McDNicks17]

He bridged him to sign Chiasson the first time around. Then in his UFA year, he took Keith with no money retained so Chicago could sign Jones to the 9.25 Million contract, which the Nurse camp used as a comparable. Nevermind that Nurse was never the Dman that Jones was. What a hilariously bad sequence of events.

Don't forget the $13M contract he gave Kassian two weeks before that bridge too.

 

[guymez]

He bridged him to sign Chiasson the first time around. Then in his UFA year, he took Keith with no money retained so Chicago could sign Jones to the 9.25 Million contract, which the Nurse camp used as a comparable. Nevermind that Nurse was never the Dman that Jones was. What a hilariously bad sequence of events.

Man...that stung.
Hollands best days are clearly behind him.

 

[Ninety7]

The obvious "tale of two teams", as that graph puts it, is McDavid. I think it's fair to say it's obvious who impacts Oilers games most.

Oilers with McDavid: 62.92 xGF%

Oilers without McDavid: 41.60 xGF%


Is it really surprising that a guy who has played 88% of his minutes away from McDavid has numbers closer to the without stat?

Or you can just watch the game and realize that nurse shoots himself in the foot with his decision making

It’s been like this year after year and the fact that you need to constantly prop him up against his team mates tells you everything you need to know.

He can’t carry himself and needs to be baby sat. Hilariously bad for some one getting paid 9.25m.

 

[Spawn]

The obvious "tale of two teams", as that graph puts it, is McDavid. I think it's fair to say it's obvious who impacts Oilers games most.

Oilers with McDavid: 62.92 xGF%

Oilers without McDavid: 41.60 xGF%


Is it really surprising that a guy who has played 88% of his minutes away from McDavid has numbers closer to the without stat?

It's not surprising, but for what is the 7th highest cap hit in the league for D-men you would hope you could get more impact out of him regardless of if he's playing with McDavid or not.

I like Nurse and I've always been a supporter of his. But his level of play this year isn't acceptable. Not at his cap hit.

 

[Ninety7]

Looking back in this thread I got roasted for saying hyman is a better player than nurse

Fast forward two year later and it’s not even close.

 

[bobbythebrain]

I think it's pretty simple.

Nurse sucks at defending. Put him with a forward who is getting out-chanced 9-1, it's going to result in him defending a lot more.

Accommodations are going above and beyond. Expecting to play with forwards with a pulse is more of a baseline expectation than an accommodation.

By putting him w/ McDavid you help Nurse for sure, but you hurt McDavid.

The possesions thru the neutral zone would drop and the speed generated from clean breakouts drop too.

Not to mention the cycles McD is able to generate with Ek/Bouch

Nurse dumping it along the boards for McD to go play fetch will drop offensive chances also

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

@CupofOil said it years ago that this contract could cripple the franchise and they were entirely correct. I wish he’d step up and do something, anything but he lacks another gear.

 

[Canovin]

I feel like Nurse is trying to be too much like Kris Russell and turns out he sucks at being Russell too

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I feel like Nurse is trying to be too much like Kris Russell and turns out he sucks at being Russell too

The constant pinches by him and Ceci make me wonder if they think they’re offensive d-men.

 

[Little Fury]

@CupofOil said it years ago that this contract could cripple the franchise and they were entirely correct. I wish he’d step up and do something, anything but he lacks another gear.

It's not even so much that he hasn't stepped up, it's that he's stepped back.

 

[Canovin]

The constant pinches by him and Ceci make me wonder if they think they’re offensive d-men.

I've said this a few times now. I think if Nurse just tries to be more like Gator instead of Pronger, he do well and the Oilers will be better. Stay home and just eliminate people. Be that mean SOB like he used to be

 

[CupofOil]

After McDavid, I had the biggest hopes for Nurse when he took the ice on his first NHL game. Was hoping he became our home grown #1 D. Our Pronger-lite. Has been nothing but disappointment since the extension.

I know it's just junior but he looked unreal as a nasty shutdown Dman with offensive potential in the WJC tournament then he came out like a house on fire his first few seasons in the league as he got more and more responsibility and started taking Klefbom's tough minutes playing ultra physical, showing some offensive growth and slowly but surely improving his defense even with the brainfarts mixed in then the bubble inflation season happened and he got paid and something immediately changed in his game, started playing less physical, started trying to play like a superhero without the superhero powers and completely lost his identity as a player.

This season has been the worst of it, I don't even recognize the Nurse from 2-3 years ago anymore, an already flawed but good player has turned into an even more flawed and bad player that doesn't seem to have much of a care in the world anymore. I guess now that he got paid and has a young family, hockey has sort of taken a back seat for him. On one hand, I can understand it in a sense but it sucks as a fan of the team to watch this player deteriorate, a player that I used to have a ton of respect for even though overpaid.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

suspending nurse will help the oilers a lot.

 

[Canovin]

I know it's just junior but he looked unreal as a nasty shutdown Dman with offensive potential in the WJC tournament then he came out like a house on fire his first few seasons in the league as he got more and more responsibility and started taking Klefbom's tough minutes playing ultra physical, showing some offensive growth and slowly but surely improving his defense even with the brainfarts mixed in then the bubble inflation season happened and he got paid and something immediately changed in his game, started playing less physical, started trying to play like a superhero without the superhero powers and completely lost his identity as a player.

This season has been the worst of it, I don't even recognize the Nurse from 2-3 years ago anymore, an already flawed but good player has turned into an even more flawed and bad player that doesn't seem to have much of a care in the world anymore. I guess now that he got paid and has a young family, hockey has sort of taken a back seat for him. On one hand, I can understand it in a sense but it sucks as a fan of the team to watch this player deteriorate, a player that I used to have a ton of respect for even though overpaid.

I was hoping by adding Ekholm, he'd picked up a few pointers and added something to his arsenal. Nothing, if anything he gotten worse. Like how do you get worse when you got a high IQ dman in the team? Pick his brain and try to learn something. Adding Ekholm to the defense was like adding McDavid. The guys just watch and hope he come save the day

 

[McDNicks17]

By putting him w/ McDavid you help Nurse for sure, but you hurt McDavid.

The possesions thru the neutral zone would drop and the speed generated from clean breakouts drop too.

Not to mention the cycles McD is able to generate with Ek/Bouch

Nurse dumping it along the boards for McD to go play fetch will drop offensive chances also

For sure. Bouchard definitely deserves those minutes with McDavid more now.

Nurse has played well with skill in the past though. He basically got that $9M because he was McDavid's winger that shortened year. He had well above average results with McDavid this year. He's always had his success playing with skill where he can make a 5 foot pass, join the rush and shoot the puck. The point I'm basically trying to make is he doesn't necessarily have to play with McDavid, but the Oilers depth is so ass that there's basically no skill below the 1st line for him to do that with.

Like when was the last time RNH skated the puck through the neutral zone? 2015? McLeod kind of has that skillset and Nurse has really good metrics(62% xGF with 35% off. zone starts) with him in the playoffs so far.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Can this guy be bought out? You truly have to consider it.

Last night was another prime example of how the cap he takes is anchoring this team.

Being away from Ceci yesterday avoided the 2 of them working together to help the other team, but they both made their own detrimental mistakes anyways. Ceci gets walked for an almost goal and a handful of giveways

First goal is on and off Nurse yet again. Tries to block a shot by taking up as much space as possible infront of the net, and has it go by as usual. Tale old as time how ineffective he is going in to his tutor shooter stance

Watch how many pucks he clears around the boards without ever looking up? Head down staring at the puck so he doesn't miss but that leads to him having no clue if it's the smart play. Again i counted 5 times it was just the wrong play but only by luck did it not lead to anything

3 on 2 breakout, he puts it into Foegles feet who was flying up the ice. Another play up the ice he, as per usual, just rockets it at the player and he fumbles it. I'm actually shocked he completed a good pass that game to Janmark on the PK. But basically 1-2 good plays a nite outta dozens. That's 9mil paying a guy to make waaaaaaaay more poor plays than good

 

[Canovin]

Nurse can't be traded or bought out. Might as well try and find the right partner for him so the team benefit from it. Trade Ceci and bring in Alex Carrier

For sure. Bouchard definitely deserves those minutes with McDavid more now.

Nurse has played well with skill in the past though. He basically got that $9M because he was McDavid's winger that shortened year. He had well above average results with McDavid this year. He's always had his success playing with skill where he can make a 5 foot pass, join the rush and shoot the puck. The point I'm basically trying to make is he doesn't necessarily have to play with McDavid, but the Oilers depth is so ass that there's basically no skill below the 1st line for him to do that with.

Like when was the last time RNH skated the puck through the neutral zone? 2015? McLeod kind of has that skillset and Nurse has really good metrics(62% xGF with 35% off. zone starts) with him in the playoffs so far.

I agree. Nurse's best year came from being McDavid's wing. Might as well move McDavid to the 2nd line and bump Drai's line to the top line lol

 

[Shanahanigans]

Nurse is not a good passer, he benefits most from playing with partners with good breakout passes. His best years were with Ethan Bear (rookie year) and Barrie's first year here. Ceci is not good at zone entry defense, retrievals, breakout passes, or pretty much anything except "shutting down the cycle" occasionally. Get Nurse someone who can relieve pressure with a breakout pass and watch him thrive, or at least be able to play at a top 4 level consistently.

 

[McShogun99]

Nurse is not a good passer, he benefits most from playing with partners with good breakout passes. His best years were with Ethan Bear (rookie year) and Barrie's first year here. Ceci is not good at zone entry defense, retrievals, breakout passes, or pretty much anything except "shutting down the cycle" occasionally. Get Nurse someone who can relieve pressure with a breakout pass and watch his thrive, or at least be able to play at a top 4 level consistently.

Him and Stecher looked decent together in limited minutes but we need to move on from Ceci this offseason and get a partner for Nurse with good passing skills but can also PK and defend.