Player Discussion Darnell Nurse
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A rookie defenceman struggles when given too much responsibility in the middle part of a season and all of a sudden he's entering bust territory... good lord do you people hear yourselves? If they could have sheltered him properly everyone would be positively wet with excitement about Nurse. He's a rookie, mistakes will happen and they'll happen less and less as he gets more experience.
Mc5RingsAndABeer
5-14-6-1
- May 25, 2011
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Remember when Adam Larsson was a useless bust? It's not a great sign that Nurse hasn't looked better so far in his career but it's way too early to write him off.
Hedman at the same stage Nurse was this season was a 23 minute a night d-man on pace for 30 points. Hedman at no point, even as an 18 year old rookie looked as clueless as Nurse did the majority of this season.
Digger12
Gold Fever
Was about to say the same thing.
He's only 18 months removed from being named one of Canada's top 3 players at the 2015 WJHC, and the top player in the Gold medal game, and had an outstanding OHL playoff run with the Greyhounds.
And just over a year later, apparently because he didn't instantly translate his junior success into pro success when pressed into more responsibility than he could handle due to an injury-riddled D core in the 2nd half of the season, at the ripe olde age of 20, he's apparently on his way to becoming a bust and no brain for the game, and is being labeled as a face puncher who can skate a bit.
I'll give him another year or two with a hopefully revamped D core that can ease him in a bit before I burn him in effigy, I think.
Nothing's a guarantee in life of course, but my belief is that he's got the ability to be a good to very good dman. He just might need a couple years, and that *should* be OK.
Cerebral
Registered User
My stance with Nurse has always been the same: I really like his top-end potential as a defender, but I question his overall offensive upside. With his skating ability, size, and grit, I really don't see many ways he doesn't emerge as a legit top 4 option in the next few seasons. However, I just don't see the creativity or hockey sense of a defender who will score many points in the NHL. He's never really put up much offence anywhere outside of his 2013-14 season in the OHL where he was fed a lot of powerplay minutes. Given these limitations, I don't really see a #1 defenceman in the making. That really isn't the end of the world though, especially considering where he was drafted.
I've said it before, but I really think Travis Hamonic is a great comparison for him. If you look at their offensive numbers, they're really quite similar:
Nurse:
17 @ OHL: 0.60PPG
18 @ OHL: 0.78PPG
19 @ OHL: 0.92PPG
20 @ NHL: 0.45PPG (with a small sample size)
Hamonic:
17 @ OHL: 0.36PPG
18 @ OHL: 0.70PPG
19 @ OHL: 1.07PPG
20 @ NHL: 0.42PPG
Taking this all into account, I think we can expect Nurse to emerge as a minute-eater who will put up 20-30 points per season and maybe put up a few more points if he's given the minutes.
Long-term he will solve some issues in the defensive end but I don't think we should be waiting for him to become a solution on the powerplay.
I've said it before, but I really think Travis Hamonic is a great comparison for him. If you look at their offensive numbers, they're really quite similar:
Nurse:
17 @ OHL: 0.60PPG
18 @ OHL: 0.78PPG
19 @ OHL: 0.92PPG
20 @ NHL: 0.45PPG (with a small sample size)
Hamonic:
17 @ OHL: 0.36PPG
18 @ OHL: 0.70PPG
19 @ OHL: 1.07PPG
20 @ NHL: 0.42PPG
Taking this all into account, I think we can expect Nurse to emerge as a minute-eater who will put up 20-30 points per season and maybe put up a few more points if he's given the minutes.
Long-term he will solve some issues in the defensive end but I don't think we should be waiting for him to become a solution on the powerplay.
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,183
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Size, skating, physical play, work ethic and toughness he has in droves. That alone is enough to carve out a NHL career.
The question is will he improve enough in terms of the time that it takes to make decisions with the puck? That often times is what separates the bottom pairing guys from the 2nd pairing guys and even the top pairing guys.
The question is will he improve enough in terms of the time that it takes to make decisions with the puck? That often times is what separates the bottom pairing guys from the 2nd pairing guys and even the top pairing guys.
Philly85*
I Ain't Even Mad
- Mar 28, 2009
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People said similar things about Magnus Pajaarvi. He's a forward, yes, but has size, hands, skating ability, all good qualities in a young player. Most people thought at his worst he could fill out as an elite third or fourth line energy player/checker. Unfortunately, the guy has nill hockey IQ. He's now on his way out of the league.
Teubert was another similar guy who was big, nasty, had above average skating, solid looking defensive Dman... Of course, he had limited puck skills and was dumb as a bag of hammers, so now he's out of the league.
Point is, if you're not a smart player or show some semblance of an all round game, things can turn on you fast. Nurse really needs to work on things. With his hands and skating and skill level he should be able to be much more offensive and the team should try to tap into that's why he should be down in OKC. He did not look good for big parts of the season on the defensive end either, I understand part of that was coaching and lack of options, but still. Big off season for him.
Teubert was another similar guy who was big, nasty, had above average skating, solid looking defensive Dman... Of course, he had limited puck skills and was dumb as a bag of hammers, so now he's out of the league.
Point is, if you're not a smart player or show some semblance of an all round game, things can turn on you fast. Nurse really needs to work on things. With his hands and skating and skill level he should be able to be much more offensive and the team should try to tap into that's why he should be down in OKC. He did not look good for big parts of the season on the defensive end either, I understand part of that was coaching and lack of options, but still. Big off season for him.
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Nurse's PPG this season was 0.14. Not 0.45. Not even close to Hamonic at age 20.
oStealthKiller*
Master Monkey Herder
Defence man take time. People will be singing a different tune about nurse and Reinhart in 3 years, hopefully it's here. The only negative thing I'll say about nurse is I feel this season all but stopped any realistic projections of him as a number 1. He still has high end number 2 upside imo tho
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,183
- 34,610
I don't see anyone here calling Nurse a bust or entering bust territory. Everyone agrees he will have an NHL career, it's just a question of his ceiling.
Jimmi McJenkins
Sometimes miracles
Teubert was actually a good skater, if I recall correctly, I believe he didn't have great mobility (like skates well, but doesn't move around with any particular quickness) and he Really Lacked hockey sense.
Lets not make the same mistake Toronto made when they traded away Chuck Norris on skates:
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Lets not make the same mistake Toronto made when they traded away Chuck Norris on skates:
Two things:
1) those jerseys are amazing, and
2) It's only a mistake if we don't get good value. If we traded Nurse as part of a package for a bona fide, established top pairing D in his prime who could help us right now, would you still think it a mistake?
Considering he'd likely be a small part of a much bigger package, yes.
This team should have a ton of patience for a guy like nurse. Even if he doesn't put it together right away, a Dman with his toolset is a very rare thing. If the guy has to play two more seasons in the ahl/bottom pairing then whatever. We shouldn't have to rely on him at this point anyways. It never hurts to have some young depth that forces people down/out of the line up when they're ready.
If you could get a top pairing Dman for nurse and a small add, I'd consider it, but something like nurse and 4th, or nurse and nuge/eberle, and I don't even consider it. Not unless it's a number 1 Dman, on a good deal, that's still young, but those kind of Dman aren't available.
Even if he's the clincher in the deal? I do that trade 10/10. I'm not saying they need to actively shop him or anything, but he shouldn't be untouchable.
There's absolutely no indication this organization is bringing Nurse along slowly.It wouldn't shock me if they only picked up one D in the offseason and counted on Nurse to play heavy minutes as a second pairing guy. Because Oilers.
Quickly starting to look like a questionable pick. These guys can turn from prospect to suspect really quick. Nurse is well on his way.
That was close enough and it's only one page back. The point still stands, unless you've got an absolute one of a kind D on your hands a rookie struggling when given big minutes shouldn't be a concern for anyone because he's a rookie. first year pro player and it's a big step from jr. to the NHL. Nurse will be a good defencemen in the NHL there is no doubt about that. The only question is just how much his offense will come but he will at very least be a good skating tough physical defender.
I'm not so sure about that. It's not his fault he was one of our most durable options with veterans on the payroll like Nikitin and Ference providing zero depth.
Right now it looks like he will be competing with one of Davidson or Klefbom with others young guys like Reinhart in the mix as well for the final d spot and that's before we see what changes happen this summer.
Digger12
Gold Fever
At the same age Davidson was playing as a 20 yr old overager in the WHL because he wasn't good enough to be even at the AHL level yet, and even at 21 he was barely AHL level. Nurse at the same age is definitely further along in development, and given their draft pedigrees that's no surprise.
Not saying Nurse couldn't use more AHL seasoning if it makes sense, but I highly doubt he's going to need to spend multiple years in the minors to be "ready". In fact I doubt he'll need more than a half season in the AHL if that's where he ends up going.
I don't think it's Plan A, but if they only land one top four D this offseason, i bet their fallback plan is
Klef-new guy
Nurse-Sekera
They ******* love this kid.
Yeah a lot to love with his physical tools and compete level. Don't think that results in irrational decision making though especially with last years information at hand.
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