Darnell Nurse: Controversial player review

Darnell Nurse is one of the longest-tenured Edmonton Oilers, but that is not to say it has always been smooth sailing for the former seventh overall pick out of the SOO Greyhounds. With the past season being Nurse’s tenth with the NHL club, this article delves into the many intriguing, yet most vilified players to suit up for the copper and blue in the past 20 seasons.

Without digging into the weeds so early into the article, the biggest albatross in the room is generally always brought up when discussing Nurse is the contract, the $9.25M AAV over eight years. The issue regarding this contract is not that Nurse looked to cash in on a very strong 2020–21 season, but the contract was also inflated by Seth Jones and Cale Makar both inking long-term deals within the same period. Additionally, Edmonton contract mismanagement is also a factor, as the Oilers double-bridged Nurse (signing him to two short bridge deals) when they should have extended him to a more modest $6-7M AAV when the first bridge deal expired.

International play

Nurse has had a strong representation on the world hockey stage, including participation in the following Junior tournaments: the 2012 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, the 2012 IIHF Ivan Hlinka, and the 2015 World Juniors where Nurse collected a gold medal and was named one of Canada’s top three players. Additionally, Nurse has also added international participation at both the 2018 and 2019 IIHF World Championship, winning silver in the latter year.

Career statistics

Nurse has had a bit of a roller coaster during his career. Achieving a career-high in points in 2022–23, setting personal best in assists as well during that season. But his best season on point per game level was in the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season, in which Nurse netted 36 points in 56, roughly 0.64 points per game, scoring a career-high in goals with 16 and setting personal bests in plus-minus.

Player profile

Nurse profiles as a steady two-way 1B defenceman whose defensive game in shot-blocking and hits makes him very effective at dislodging opponents from the puck using his combination of size and speed. This combination of length and speed helps place him in pathways to effectively block shots as well, noting he generally leads the team in this category and is a key cog on the penalty kill.

Although not necessarily the typical performance expected from a defenceman making over $9M AAV, the Oilers cannot be upset when looking compared to the performance of Seth Jones, who signed nearly an identical deal within the same month. Yes, there may be some bad defensive gaffes, discussed later in this article, but there are also many strengths of a quality player such as Nurse.

Strengths

One such strength of Nurse lies in both the conventional and underlying metrics. For example, Nurse’s speed enables him to be a dangerous puck carrier, allowing him to lead all Oiler defencemen on rush attempts at even strength throughout the season, contributing to him creating the most rebounds by a member of the defense corps on the team. Defensively, Nurse contributes positively in this aspect of the game as well, leading the team in blocked shots by a wide margin and in hits, rounding out his own zone mentality.

The combination of speed, size, and very good forward linemates allow Nurse to have above-average on-ice metrics. The list includes positive puck possession metrics, where he is roughly league-average throughout his career, with the last season being one of his strongest at 3% better at generating chances toward the opposing net. Similarly, his expected goals, a measurement of the quality of chances at both ends of the ice have trended in an upward trajectory over the past three seasons. Last season was one of his best, posting marks 4% above the league average, highlighting how when present on ice, the higher quality chances are occurring on the opposing team’s end.

Weaknesses

The negatives, which when do occur, happen at such glaringly bad opportunities for Nurse that the fanbase is seemingly making the villain on an endless loop. Hockey is a team game, with every player having a job that does not always go according to plan, especially when paired with substandard defensive partners such as Cody Ceci.

For Nurse, his best metric scores have come when paired with offensively offensively-minded defencemen such as Evan Bouchard, who would allow Nurse to primarily focus on the single aspect of his defensive game, rather than needing to do it all himself. Or when paired with Mattias Ekholm, Nurse has been able to solidify his offensive game by knowing he is the primary playmaker on that pairing.

No offense to Ceci, but when paired with Nurse during this regular season, the pairing posted the second-worst metrics among Oilers defencemen, only ahead of the Ceci-Brett Kulak pairing. Not only were zone exits and turnovers an issue (Nurse second only to Bouchard), but these would cost Edmonton in underlying metrics as well. Namely, the High-Danger goals against which Edmonton allowed a margin of 3% more goals against from the High-Danger area when Nurse was present on the ice. But even for how bad the Nurse-Ceci pairing was, Nurse was still able to hold a GF% of 50%, indicating he was on for as many goals for as against at 5v5, even when paired with Ceci.

Organizational fit

In only year three of eight of his massive extension Nurse is not going anywhere, as much as the fanbase wants to discuss a trade or potential buyout. Yes, Nurse has his problems, but the former seventh overall pick is a very strong 1B defenceman who manages his defensive end well but requires an upgrade to play with, like a Philip Broberg.

Yes, he is controversial, yes he does make mistakes, and yes he may be classified as overpaid; but if Nurse can continue to positively influence his game with his speed, physicality, and shot blocking, the Oilers have locked up their second-pairing defenceman at a rate that will only continue to shrink as the cap expands. This does not mention his intangibles as well as he is looked upon as a massive piece of the leadership group, mentoring the likes of Broberg, Bouchard, and possibly Beau Akey or Max Wanner in the future as well.

References: NaturalStatTrick

Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire