What to do with Nurse?

[Cloned]

His play this year has been pretty disappointing. I know development is not linear, but he still has the exact same issues with his play that he did when he first came into the league.

His skating doesn’t look elite anymore at this level and his decision making and positioning are questionable.

He’s also possibly the only Oiler who actually looks worse under Hitch. Even guys like Lucic, Benning and Talbot have looked far better under the new coach.

It’s coming to a tipping point with him. What would you do?

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[CookiesAndMilk]

Never been a big fan of him but we can't afford to trade another D right now. Let's wait till the end of the season. If he steps it up, good for us, if not -> trade.

 

[GodPucker]

He isn't that smart of a dman. Look at that one play tonight. He stands behind our net forever. Slaps the puck around the boards and ices it.

When he does skate out of the zone, he rarely head man's a guy up. He holds on top long. I can't think of one thing he does great..

 

[oobga]

Org loves him, he's McDavid's bud. I think we just have to hope Hitch and Yawney get some more stability in his game. He gets way too antsy out there still. He looks out of place a lot actually while everyone else looks cool and in control, you still see Nurse do some wild stuff.

 

[The Batman]

I was hoping that Trent Yawney could work his magic with Nurse. The kid is making some terrible decisions out there and he should just defer to Russell whenever he manages to get the puck.

I would personally wait and see, I still think he can be a good player. The only Oiler I wanted to get rid of was Strome (and now Spooner); I have time for everyone else.

 

[belair]

Chose the closest option to what I agree with. I don't believe in a 'core', but I think Darnell in his current form is a good quality middle pairing defenseman. Worst case scenario is he's a rugged, 'safe' two way defenseman with good mobilty. If he never takes that next step, he's likely a very affordable defenseman. That second part is extremely valuable. Third part is the fact that he's buds with two of the most valuable players on the team. I don't think a Nurse trade would sit well in that dressing room.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

I think while he hasn't been good this season outside of a stretch of 8 or so games near the beginning, he hasn't been as disastrous as some would lead you to believe. It's always been fashionable to pounce on Nurse here and he's been a whipping boy since before he was drafted. Some of the criticism is fair, a lot of it borders on ridiculous hyperbole.

Has his moments (a lot of them, to be fair) where he over-pursues and seems noncommittal on the ice. When it comes to his skating, something's not right there. A player doesn't go from looking as dynamic and fluid as he's been in prior seasons to someone who looks like he's lost half of his foot speed. Wonder if something is nagging him or if it's simply a confidence issue.

Been looking better the last couple of games though. Parts of his game are trending in the right direction instead of regressing as they have been. As well, he's closer with McDavid and Draisaitl than anyone else on this roster and there's still potential there to be unlocked. He's not going anywhere.

 

[MessierII]

Ride it out. He’s still pretty young. Not like he costs a ton. Great athlete still so even if he’s a disappointment I don’t really see him ever not being a solid player.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Chose the closest option to what I agree with. I don't believe in a 'core', but I think Darnell in his current form is a good quality middle pairing defenseman. Worst case scenario is he's a rugged, 'safe' two way defenseman with good mobilty. If he never takes that next step, he's likely a very affordable defenseman. That second part is extremely valuable. Third part is the fact that he's buds with two of the most valuable players on the team. I don't think a Nurse trade would sit well in that dressing room.

You think he is a good quality middle pair guy in his current form? He has been our worst regular defender in almost advanced stats by a large margin. Right now he is a third pairing guy

 

[MessierII]

You think he is a good quality middle pair guy in his current form? He has been our worst regular defender in almost advanced stats by a large margin. Right now he is a third pairing guy

I think him and Russell are both 4-5 D men. Neither is Andrej Sekera but I bet both would look fine beside him. We really miss that 2nd pairing anchor since Sekera went down.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

You think he is a good quality middle pair guy in his current form? He has been our worst regular defender in almost advanced stats by a large margin. Right now he is a third pairing guy

Just adding that the infamous eye test confirms his not so good play recently.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

He isn't that smart of a dman. Look at that one play tonight. He stands behind our net forever. Slaps the puck around the boards and ices it.

When he does skate out of the zone, he rarely head man's a guy up. He holds on top long. I can't think of one thing he does great..

The one thing he does great is play punchy face.

 

[TheNumber4]

Firstly, we should probably give some Kudos to Chia for giving him a proper show me bridge. Secondly, I don't get all the Nurse hate. I really don't. Yes I see the occasional bad positioning play and brain fart, but there's been stretches where Nurse has been our more impressive defensive defenceman next to Larsson. He's got a great stick, tough as nails, elite North-South mobility, and he will back up any teammate at the drop of a hat. There's just so much positives there and potential that his positioning gaffes (which are mostly due to inexperience IMO) are minor in my mind.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

Nurse has been our more impressive defensive defenceman next to Larsson. He's got a great stick, tough as nails, elite North-South mobility, and he will back up any teammate at the drop of a hat.

I'm not 100% sold on that. I think Klefbom really stepped up this season, where Nurse was stagnating. Stickwise I can't really tell but it doesn't seem that he makes bad plays with his stick, be it poking or handling. I also give you the "tough as nails" and the support of his teammates. Elite north-south mobility? Absolutely not (this season). He grabs the puck behind his own goal and runs into 3-4 people soon after the red line. That happens more often than not. Don't get me wrong, he has the feet to do that but he lacks experience to do it succesfully.

 

[lakai17]

Nurse ++ for Dumba

Jared Spurgeon is decent too.

 

[TheNumber4]

I'm not 100% sold on that. I think Klefbom really stepped up this season, where Nurse was stagnating. Stickwise I can't really tell but it doesn't seem that he makes bad plays with his stick, be it poking or handling. I also give you the "tough as nails" and the support of his teammates. Elite north-south mobility? Absolutely not (this season). He grabs the puck behind his own goal and runs into 3-4 people soon after the red line. That happens more often than not. Don't get me wrong, he has the feet to do that but he lacks experience to do it succesfully.

Larsson is better I mean. But there's stretches (not this season) where Nurse has been nearly as good defensively. I've seen Nurse stop an incoming attacker with his stick and gap a lot more often than many of our other defenders. On the North-South, he has the skill, but this doesn't mean he's going to rip through the neutral zone every time with success. No player has that ability (cept maybe McDavid). He does lack the experience to do it more, sometimes I wish the Oilers let the chains off Nurse and let him just practice being a more offensive minded D-man, but its in his best interests and the teams to keep the risks of an error at its lowest.

 

[Satire]

He's still young. He needs more time. Getting consistency out of defenders doesnt happen until they are 26+ usually. Why put all the effort into developing him if you're not willing to give him a chance to work through his mistakes.

Don't trade unless he is able to fetch a return for a piece we need.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

Larsson is better I mean. But there's stretches (not this season) where Nurse has been nearly as good defensively. I've seen Nurse stop an incoming attacker with his stick and gap a lot more often than many of our other defenders. On the North-South, he has the skill, but this doesn't mean he's going to rip through the neutral zone every time with success. No player has that ability (cept maybe McDavid). He does lack the experience to do it more, sometimes I wish the Oilers let the chains off Nurse and let him just practice being a more offensive minded D-man, but its in his best interests and the teams to keep the risks of an error at its lowest.

Larsson is consistently good imo, that's why I didn't mention him. I'm happy, that Klefbom is playing better.

Agreeing on the stick part. He's doing that well.

I didn't mean that he has to fly through everyone everytime. He's just taking the wrong turn more often than not and looses the puck. I don't mind if he wants to be more offensive, we really need that. Also not sure, but didn't he say that he wants to be more offensive-minded this season?

 

[TheNumber4]

Larsson is consistently good imo, that's why I didn't mention him. I'm happy, that Klefbom is playing better.

Agreeing on the stick part. He's doing that well.

I didn't mean that he has to fly through everyone everytime. He's just taking the wrong turn more often than not and looses the puck. I don't mind if he wants to be more offensive, we really need that. Also not sure, but didn't he say that he wants to be more offensive-minded this season?

He did say that. I think the contract negotiation showed him if he wants the Big Big Bucks he's going to have to start improving the box cars. Possibly that focus on the offense is taking away from his focus on the D a bit this season. Just a theory though.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Thanks to Cloned for making this thread I was just about to search for some ancient Nurse thread to unearth.

As for the opening question with the way he has played he's not part of the core for me anymore, but I'm not eagerly looking to move him, I could see him breaking either way into being a very solid #3 for a lot of years or a d-man who only really shines against weaker opposition, he won't necessarily stop making bad mistakes in a 3rd pairing role, but against that tier of opposition I'm quite confident he'll end up on the right side of the do you create more than you give up equation.

As for what his issues are I think really all boils down to decision making, physically I think he is highly capable of doing whatever is needed from him and he also has the tools to be a more than competent 2nd pairing d-man, doing everything you'd want out of a 2nd pairing d-man aside from running a powerplay.

So in kind of taking on that his only real issue is decision making you have to ask why is it poor? Is it because of...

• Lack of experience
• Lack of focus
• Low Hockey IQ
  
• Trying to do too much? (Play the hero)

Obviously he doesn't have a ton of experience with 227 NHL GP, often it takes a d-man 200 to 300 games to really settle into being the d-man they are capable of, but in looking at his mistakes I think quite a few are of the fundamental nature that I wouldn't blame on inexperience with his present number of games played. If it was more nuanced stuff or just making the occasional sub-optimal play when a higher percentage play was available I might lean towards inexperience, but stuff like vacating the front of the net when a potential one-timer option is available to chase a player who doesn't need to be chased is just a mistake you wouldn't want to see even a rookie make.

Does he suffer from a lack of focus? I'd say no, he is very mentally and emotionally engaged with the game and he does seem to have an intense level of focus. Though I will concede that maybe his focus isn't where it should be at times he can sometimes get too emotionally invested focusing more on winning the physical battles rather than the game at hand, he also might not be properly focusing on the small details that when compounded can make a big difference in how effective a player is at their job.

Is Nurse suffering from Low hockey IQ? That's hard to answer he seems more than sharp enough mentally to play hockey at a high level, but if he continues to struggle to become a stable reliable defender it may be something you just have to point at as an issue.

Is Nurse trying to do too much? I'd say absolutely yes, to me that is his most prominent shortcoming, he still hasn't shaken some junior habits and is trying to be a superhero out there too often and will often cheat off his assignment trying to give help defense to someone else creating a bigger problem than if he just tended to his own assignment. He also seems to have this compulsion that he always wants to be active and doing something trying to get on somebody and apply a measure of pressure to them, but any good defender knows there are times where it is better to let the game come to them and just try to be in the best position possible to deal with the problem at hand.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Move him next year when Jones steps up imo. His contract should still give him some value

Also, a great message to the team that nobody is safe and you need to put up or shut up. This is a business, not a boys club. Time for the next step, and clearly Nurse is never going to take that step

ps: Props to Raab, he may out to lunch on some stuff, but his Nurse critique is bang on imo

 

[bobbythebrain]

*

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

He did say that. I think the contract negotiation showed him if he wants the Big Big Bucks he's going to have to start improving the box cars. Possibly that focus on the offense is taking away from his focus on the D a bit this season. Just a theory though.

Eh, I don't mind it tbh. I voted for "let's keep him and see what happens" anyway. On top of that, he isn't playing horribad. I just wished for a next step after last season

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Defencemen are like jobs. You don't abandon it until you've found a better one first.

 

[Spawn]

Defencemen are like jobs. You don't abandon it until you've found a better one first.

Pretty much.

Trading nurse and then expecting someone like Caleb Jones to step in and play 20-22 minutes is bad for the oilers and bad for the development of jones.

 

[Panda Bear]

Remember what Larsson and Klefbom looked like in 16/17?

Well, Nurse is the same age now as they were then.