Player Discussion Darnell Nurse

[Jimmi McJenkins]

That's exactly what Smid was when he first got to Edmonton. I think that's kind of the point. The Oilers for years take these young high end prospects and throw them into the deep end without a life jacket and ask them not to drown.

He was, but wasn't as good a player.

 

[WhyteAveJesus]

Darnell Nurse has fight in him, he's a team guy and you really can't go wrong with a player like this.

Although, you can tell he makes quite a few rookie mistakes out there. That's just what the are though, ROOKIE mistakes. Give him a few years and he'll be the defenseman that we want out of him. That's why I don't take part in the Risto vs. Nurse circlejerks.

 

[Mr Positive]

I wonder if the only reason that Nurse is in the NHL and not the AHL is because Chiarelli said that Nurse would stay up once he was called up. If so, then that would be a mark against Chiarelli, who really didn't have to make a public commitment. It wasn't even like Nurse earned his stripes in the AHL and got called up as a reward, or at least had a mid season call up that left him with some experience in the AHL. We called him up very early in the season just because of injury problems, but now it seems like he's stapled to the main roster regardless of merit.

 

[Joey Moss]

The way Nurse can skate the puck out is unlike any defenseman of his size ever. As others have said, he's going to make mistakes. The potential is too good to even think about moving him IMO. Everyone talks about his potential being a Hamonic type so why not move him for Hamonic.. Hamonic is smaller and not even close to being as good of a skater as Nurse is. I don't see his IQ as a problem.. he just needs a partner that can slow things down a bit (not Adam ****ing Clendening).

 

[snipes]

Anyone else here happy with Darnell's first NHL season? We threw him into the fire.

I am happy with him. Kid showed some heart and toughness. Won a few fights, beat Polaks ass and made him our *****. Nurse needs work and he should have been in the AHL last season, but I am happy with how he battled.

He probably needs to start the year in the AHL with Reinhart as the top pairing. Give those two big minutes, 5 on 5, PP, and PK. Give Reinhart and Nurse a "C" and an "A". Put the team on their shoulders. These guys need to be playing 25-32 mins/game in California.

When Darnell fully grows into his lanky body as he becomes a man, he'll be 6'4 230ish. He's possesses excellent elite calibre skating and is tough as nails. Big respect to him stepping up and fighting Haley like a man. Says a lot about Polak and Nurse as men.

All in all, I'm happy with young Darnell. Nurse will be scary when he's 25. Lay a finger on 97, you are inviting a ****ing war you cannot win.

 

[Quinteoilers]

Nurse to me is a modern day Adam Foote.

 

[Young Lions*]

Anyone else here happy with Darnell's first NHL season? We threw him into the fire.

No. He was bad. He didn't belong and management kept throwing him back in.

I am happy with him. Kid showed some heart and toughness. Won a few fights, beat Polaks ass and made him our *****. Nurse needs work and he should have been in the AHL last season, but I am happy with how he battled.

He probably needs to start the year in the AHL with Reinhart as the top pairing. Give those two big minutes, 5 on 5, PP, and PK. Give Reinhart and Nurse a "C" and an "A". Put the team on their shoulders. These guys need to be playing 25-32 mins/game in California.

When Darnell fully grows into his lanky body as he becomes a man, he'll be 6'4 230ish. He's possesses excellent elite calibre skating and is tough as nails. Big respect to him stepping up and fighting Haley like a man. Says a lot about Polak and Nurse as men.

All in all, I'm happy with young Darnell. Nurse will be scary when he's 25. Lay a finger on 97, you are inviting a ****ing war you cannot win.

That's weird I don't see anything in there about actually being good at hockey.

Nurse's top end to me is Smid type. Physical #3 guy who can skate the puck out of danger, but can't piss a drop in the o-zone because his offensive instincts are non-existent. If he dominates the AHL next year, I might reconsider, but I 100% expect him to be with the big club all year and both the team and player will be worse for it.

 

[OilTastic]

^no, Nurse has better offensive potential than Smid could have ever dreamed about having! i LOVE the way some fans have seemingly given up on this guy after a very small sample of what he can do at just 20 with one NHL season under his belt !

 

[MessierII]

Yeah nurse skates at an elite level. His size and skating alone will make him an effective D.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Nurse to me is a modern day Adam Foote.

He skates better and should have a better offensive game, but he does have Foote's mean streak, which is nice.

 

[Young Lions*]

^no, Nurse has better offensive potential than Smid could have ever dreamed about having!

Based on what, exactly?

i LOVE the way some fans have seemingly given up on this guy after a very small sample of what he can do at just 20 with one NHL season under his belt !

Not buying the "next Pronger!" hype and giving up on the player are very different things.

I think Nurse has the tools to be an effective top four D man in the league. I don't think he has the toolbox to be a legit #1.

 

[thalegion]

too early to be completely worried about him but I fear he won't become a top pairing, likely a good number 4 maybe a 3

 

[Draiskull]

Nurse had a good rookie season IMO.. Sure he has kinks to iron out and could use some time in AHL but considering his teammates on D and the lack of a mentor Nurse was more than fine.

Smid at age 18\19 was touted very highly and had everyone drooling over his potential.

 

[Bangers]

^no, Nurse has better offensive potential than Smid could have ever dreamed about having! i LOVE the way some fans have seemingly given up on this guy after a very small sample of what he can do at just 20 with one NHL season under his belt !

Not exactly true. When Smid was drafted, he was viewed as being an Ohlund type, and Smid was good at skating the puck out of his own zone. He just never really developed in that regard (the same could hold true for Nurse).

I do think Nurse ends up being a force in his mid-20s (he'll never be a Pronger though).

 

[CornKicker]

if nurse played a 5-6 role in nashville everyone would be offering first round picks for him.

he was forced to play with terrible partners most of the season and thats on the oilers, you cant expect someone to grow and learn playing with schultz and clendenning etc. i agree he probably could have used some more time in the A but it is what it is and i think nurse battles through the struggles of this year and shows up next year ready to complete for a full time job.

 

[40oz]

I think Nurse is on the right track, it's a shame he didn't get more AHL time last year but I think he's going to be a big part of the Oilers' blueline soon.

 

[The Nuge]

I think Nurse is on the right track, it's a shame he didn't get more AHL time last year but I think he's going to be a big part of the Oilers' blueline soon.

Agreed. He showed flashes last year of his potential. As he gets older, he'll work out the kinks, so there's really nothing to be worried about imo. At the worst, we're getting a 2nd pairing dman who other teams fear

 

[Beerfish]

He was not as good as I had hoped year 1. He's still a top end prospect that we should have high hopes for and in no way move unless a true bonified #1 dman was coming back.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

They played him way too high in the lineup and he got eaten alive. Should've kept him in the AHL.

What they did with Davidson is exactly what they should be doing with Nurse.

 

[GMofOilers]

Way more advvanced then Klefbom at the same age. We have a stud here.

 

[Konami McDavid]

Anyone else here happy with Darnell's first NHL season? We threw him into the fire.

All in all, I'm happy with young Darnell. Nurse will be scary when he's 25. Lay a finger on 97, you are inviting a ****ing war you cannot win.

I was happy with his first year. His critics will focus only on his mistakes while his supporters will focus on his strengths. I fit in the middle. I noticed his mistakes at a pace of about 4-5 a game, 6-7 if you include bad penalties, but I also saw many great plays. Times where he would gather the puck deep in our zone and move it up the ice despite heavy fore-checking pressure. I am also pretty comfortable with the area in front of the net when he is on the ice. He usually has his head on a swivel, and he doesn't shy away from cleaning out the trash. On the other hand, he has a tendency to get a little too aggressive, and he does make some poor decisions with the puck in the neutral zone. He spends too much time trying to force a play and by the time he recognizes it isn't there, the opposition has closed off the simple play. Though, by the end of the season I saw much less of this.

What excites me is that we finally have a guy who skates fast and hits hard (wait until he fills out). One reason our skilled players were always exposed was our lack of a defenseman who could skate fast enough to crush oppositions skilled forwards. In 1-2 more years or so we will have a defenseman who can keep up with speedy forwards and absolutely erase them when the game starts getting chippy. You target McDavid, Nurse will target your top end player. Doughty has been doing it to Hall for years, and look how effective it has been. Gryba won't give you that, he's too slow, we haven't had an intimidating presence on the blue line in years.

The reason most teams target Nurse in the trade proposals is they don't want to have to play against him. Will he be a Pronger, he has the tools so we could call that his potential ceiling but lets be honest with ourselves, most likely not. From what I saw this year, and extrapolating his performance with 5 more years of development. I bet he is a #2-3 defenseman at his peak, with an outside chance at being a #1.

 

[Konami McDavid]

He was not as good as I had hoped year 1. He's still a top end prospect that we should have high hopes for and in no way move unless a true bonified #1 dman was coming back.

A true, proven defenseman with size and speed coming back. If we are giving up Nurse we will need to replace his ability to keep up with and hit opponents skilled forwards.

 

[Young Lions*]

Way more advvanced then Klefbom at the same age. We have a stud here.

Oh yeah, it's night and day, really.

Here's another comp:

Care to guess who Player A and Player B are? Don't bother, 'cause I'll tell you: A is Nurse, B is Smid.

 

[voxel]

Not exactly true. When Smid was drafted, he was viewed as being an Ohlund type, and Smid was good at skating the puck out of his own zone. He just never really developed in that regard (the same could hold true for Nurse).

+1

People forget what Smid was in his rookie season - a lanky smooth skating puck moving type with zero offensive IQ. Muscle and weight gain slowed him down.

I want Nurse in the AHL to develop his offense game (and play the PP) because he shouldn't and wouldn't in the NHL. I hoping THIS management is smarter than LAST management... but time will tell.

 

[GMofOilers]

Oh yeah, it's night and day, really.

Here's another comp:

Care to guess who Player A and Player B are? Don't bother, 'cause I'll tell you: A is Nurse, B is Smid.

Whats your argument here?