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.