Player Discussion Darnell Nurse is a #1 dman

[La Bamba]

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.

Starting next season, I hope Nurse-Bouchard and put together. This will show if Bouchard can still excel away from Ekholm and if Nurse is salvageable. In theory, their play styles should mesh. Nurse can be good but he's trying to do too much (again). He had a great stretch of games after Coffey was brought in.

Ekholm can mentor Broberg for the last years of his contract. Keep Kulak-Desharnais intact.

I'll drive Ceci to whatever team takes him.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

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.

Agree with your post. But even so, last night, in the most important game of this team's season, Knoblauch separated the Nurse and Ceci pairing while carving back Nurse's minutes to a historic playoff low, 16:00 (team low), and fourth in d penalty kill toi. Ceci was erratic last night but still played two minutes more than Nurse including just under a minute more PK time. There seems to be clearly a trust issue for both players.

It's now hard to figure out what Darnell Nurse is as a player. He came in as a physical beast, imposing and shutdown capabilities. Refined his physique when the rules changed to lean out to better absorb big minutes and become a puck transporter riding with McDavid and Draisaitl Stack Line. He can still do this ok with his skating ability which is a major strength but his game can fluctuates wildly with erratic decision making. A tendency to be aggressive, trying to do too much however I think impulsive might be a better descriptor. Simplifying his game, playing within team structure instead of chasing outside of it (a killer issue with the Nurse and Ceci pairing) would help him. The impulsive/reactive nature is a huge challenge for their team which leads to coverage breakdowns and often high danger messes for their goaltender.

They need to find a new 2RD which I've said for years to upgrade this d-corp. But also to give Nurse a stable, reliable and structured partner who can mitigate some of the breakdowns in Nurse's game which stem from his decision making processor.

 

[guymez]

Agree with your post. But even so, last night, in the most important game of this team's season, Knoblauch separated the Nurse and Ceci pairing while carving back Nurse's minutes to a historic playoff low, 16:00 (team low), and fourth in d penalty kill toi. Ceci was erratic last night but still played two minutes more than Nurse including just under a minute more PK time. There seems to be clearly a trust issue for both players.

It's now hard to figure out what Darnell Nurse is as a player. He came in as a physical beast, imposing and shutdown capabilities. Refined his physique when the rules changed to lean out to better absorb big minutes and become a puck transporter riding with McDavid and Draisaitl Stack Line. He can still do this ok with his skating ability which is a major strength but his game can fluctuates wildly with erratic decision making. A tendency to be aggressive, trying to do too much however I think impulsive might be a better descriptor. Simplifying his game, playing within team structure instead of chasing outside of it (a killer issue with the Nurse and Ceci pairing) would help him. The impulsive/reactive nature is a huge challenge for their team which leads to coverage breakdowns and often high danger messes for their goaltender.

They need to find a new 2RD which I've said for years to upgrade this d-corp. But also to give Nurse a stable, reliable and structured partner who can mitigate some of the breakdowns in Nurse's game which stem from his decision making processor.

If its at all possible its time to move on from Nurse.
He is going to be 30 years old next season. He isnt going to get any better.

 

[VainGretzky]

His game seems to be declining fast very unfortunate

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

If its at all possible its time to move on from Nurse.
He is going to be 30 years old next season. He isnt going to get any better.

It's not. *And they won't.

But they do need to find a top 4 RD upgrade which I've harped on for years. Nurse is still an elite skating d-man whose physical skills won't erode within the norm for prime years defenders. He is still valued as a team leader, character and other intangibles. Last night's game may be a blip in his usage but worth watching. Knoblauch made several roster adjustments that all were on the mark. Nice to have a head coach able and willing to make deployment adjustments.

*The one dark horse I could see would be Utah with huge need for d-men and massive cap space and trade collateral available. However I don't see either Nurse or the Oilers divorcing from one another.

 

[guymez]

It's not. *And they won't.

But they do need to find a top 4 RD upgrade which I've harped on for years. Nurse is still an elite skating d-man whose physical skills won't erode within the norm for prime years defenders. He is still valued as a team leader, character and other intangibles. Last night's game may be a blip in his usage but worth watching. Knoblauch made several roster adjustments that all were on the mark. Nice to have a head coach able and willing to make deployment adjustments.

*The one dark horse I could see would be Utah with huge need for d-men and massive cap space and trade collateral available. However I don't see either Nurse or the Oilers divorcing from one another.

I am gald that you walked back your statement that its not possible to move Nurse.
Utah is a perfect example of why I havent given up hope.
I think that there are opprotunites out there. Brokering a deal wont be easy though.

There is no doubting that Nurse has tools. He can skate.,..he can move the puck...and when the spirit moves him he can be a physical force. He is a great team player as well.
The question is do those attributes offset the liabilities?
I just dont think that they do...especially at a $9.25M cap hit.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I am gald that you walked back your statement that its not possible to move Nurse.
Utah is a perfect example of why I havent given up hope.
I think that there are opprotunites out there. Brokering a deal wont be easy though.

There is no doubting that Nurse has tools. He can skate.,..he can move the puck...and when the spirit moves him he can be a physical force. He is a great team player as well.
The question is do those attributes offset the liabilities?
I just dont think that they do...especially at a $9.25M cap hit.

I'm not walking back anything. Have posted this scenario elsewhere with context that I think it's like a 1% chance Nurse would move or be moved. Just think Utah would be the organization that could do a deal.

We'll have to see where Knoblauch's deployment goes from here, as I posted. Is his low minutes a one-off or does it become a sustained strategy? I do think they have moved off of the erratic, unpredictability of Nurse/Ceci pairing, but again we'll see.

The Oilers are in a challenging situation with a largely average defensecorp. Sure, they need Nurse as a second pairing guy and, after years upon years of ignoring the critical blue line position (and then getting crushed by bad luck with Klefbom and Larsson situations), it's not a simple decision to carve out proven veteran depth to hope to rebuild again a defense corp on a team within its finite winning window. Nurse is valued by his teammates and organization for the totality of what he brings to them and in their opinion of what is needed to challenge for a Cup. They can, and I expect they will, look to build up their d-corp with a better complement to Nurse.

 

[guymez]

I'm not walking back anything. Have posted this scenario elsewhere with context that I think it's like a 1% chance Nurse would move or be moved. Just think Utah would be the organization that could do a deal.

We'll have to see where Knoblauch's deployment goes from here, as I posted. Is his low minutes a one-off or does it become a sustained strategy? I do think they have moved off of the erratic, unpredictability of Nurse/Ceci pairing, but again we'll see.

The Oilers are in a challenging situation with a largely average defensecorp. Sure, they need Nurse as a second pairing guy and, after years upon years of ignoring the critical blue line position (and then getting crushed by bad luck with Klefbom and Larsson situations), it's not a simple decision to carve out proven veteran depth to hope to rebuild again a defense corp on a team within its finite winning window. Nurse is valued by his teammates and organization for the totality of what he brings to them and in their opinion of what is needed to challenge for a Cup. They can, and I expect they will, look to build up their d-corp with a better complement to Nurse.

There probably is a 1% chance but not because of there not being any takers. More likley because Holland doesnt doent have the nads to trade him. No doubt part of that involves rebulding the 2nd pairing because IMO Ceci should be gone too.
So its likely easier to trade Ceci...find a proper replacement to play with Nurse and then maybe reduce Nurses minutes.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

There probably is a 1% chance but not because of there not being any takers. More likley because Holland doesnt doent have the nads to trade him. No doubt part of that involves rebulding the 2nd pairing because IMO Ceci should be gone too.
So its likely easier to trade Ceci...find a proper replacement to play with Nurse and then maybe reduce Nurses minutes.

Holland's done here. And I suspect no deadline moves were made without his boss's blessing. It's entirely possible that the organization decision makers and players hold a different opinion on the player than you do.

They have a very finite winning window. As stated, I'm more inclined to believe they want to upgrade around an average d-corp's core pieces (Ekholm, Bouchard, Nurse) than blow it up hoping to find a better fit skill and chemistry wise.

 

[Slats432]

We live in a world where Darnell gets paid more than Connor next season.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

He's regressed since Ekholm came.

You'd think he would do better with less minutes, but he just keeps doing worse and worse.

 

[bobbythebrain]

He's regressed since Ekholm came.

You'd think he would do better with less minutes, but he just keeps doing worse and worse.

9.25 to just rim it all game. It's just disgusting to watch at this point

Ofcourse the biggest cycle of the series comes against Nurse/Ceci on the ice. This is not coincidence or bad luck.

Funny enough, Ceci has looked 10x better away from him while Nurse's game has had no uptick whatsoever

 

[Tobias Kahun]

9.25 to just rim it all game. It's just disgusting to watch at this point

Ofcourse the biggest cycle of the series comes against Nurse/Ceci on the ice. This is not coincidence or bad luck.

Funny enough, Ceci has looked 10x better away from him while Nurse's game has had no uptick whatsoever

the bigger thing is how many pucks go off nurse and into the net or onto an opponents stick.

It happens to often its not a coincidence at this point.

 

[Oilhawks]

#2 at best, and by that, I mean a toilet #2

 

[frag2]

Garbage player with shit for brains. Need to punt his rich ass off this team this off season

 

[KarmaPolice]

#2 at best, and by that, I mean a toilet #2

The best boat anchor 9.25m in cap can buy. He's now at -12 in these playoffs. I don't know how he looks himself in the mirror right now.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Worst defender left in the playoffs.

 

[OddManRush]

Whoever made this thread is munching crow 3 meals a day eh f***ing braindead

 

[rickysusedsht]

Can't get this goof off the team fast enough what a waste of 9.25 . Thanks Kenny you tool

 

[Oilhawks]

The best boat anchor a 9.25m cap can buy. He's now at -12 in these playoffs. I don't know how he looks himself in the mirror right now.

I'm more confident in Campbell bouncing back than this absolute piece of shit being worth half of his salary.

He should be bought out. Too bad McGM wouldn't allow it

 

[McDrailers]

There’s not a team in the league that stays on the phone line for Holland to finish the sentence “I’ll trade you Darnell Nurse”

 

[bellagiobob]

The sad part is Nurse was once an effective player. The ability is there, for whatever reason his game has just continually eroded into a situation that a team with any depth would HS him. A contract that is gonna be near impossible to get away from.

 

[Shanahanigans]

The options are to play him on the 3rd pair for 9.25 mill till 2030, or buy him out and pay him roughly 9 mill a year to not play for us until 2030. Thanks Holland.

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

The sad part is Nurse was once an effective player. The ability is there, for whatever reason his game has just continually eroded into a situation that a team with any depth would HS him. A contract that is gonna be near impossible to get away from.

Wade redden like drop off the moment that contract was signed. No sane Gm should have given nurse that contract on a shorter sample size of the covid year considering he had 1 year left before UFA. Blah

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Nurse's play is shit.

But that contract is still on Holland. He panicked hard instead of being patient.

A fitting theme for this team.