On August 6, 2021 Darnell Nurse signed an eight-year, $74M extension, a $9.25M AAV. This has been a serious point of grief for Edmonton Oilers fans as the previous season he only scored 36 points in 56 games, a 53-point pace, not generally the type of player who commands $9.25M.
This Oiler anger was especially poignant because approximately two weeks earlier, on July 24, Cale Makar, the best offensive defenceman in the league, a man who has now scored at a 90-point pace for four years in a row, signed a six-year, $9M AAV deal.
It’s difficult to imagine that Darnell Nurse has been making more money than Makar these past four seasons, but mistakes are in the past and it doesn’t help to dwell on them. The real goal since that point has been finding a defensive partner for Nurse to work with. The last four years have been an arduous search for a partner to bring out the best in Nurse. That search may be over.
Enter Jake Walman
Jake Walman had nothing if not a rocky and uncertain NHL career before coming to Edmonton. Originally drafted by St. Louis in 2014, he didn’t see any real playing time till the 2022–23 season with Detroit. Since then he has increased his PPG total each year like clockwork. Walman had only just established himself in San Jose when he was traded to the Oilers at the trade deadline.
Next year will be the last year of Walman’s three-year, $3.4M AAV contract and while he doesn’t yet have an extension, there are rumours that Edmonton they are working towards one.
The Seravalli mentioned is Frank Seravalli, the hockey insider.
It should be no secret that Edmonton would like to keep Walman on the roster as he adds a previously unknown level of depth to the Oilers defence.
Playing style for the pair
The pairing of Walman and Nurse is interesting. Both have the ability and inclination to jump up in the play and lend support to the forwards but neither are likely to rush the puck themselves. You are more likely to see Nurse jumping up in the play than Walman, but Walman is a smarter passer and more successful in the breakout.
On a team like the Oilers it isn’t necessary to have any defencemen rushing the puck. What they really need is smart, puck-moving defencemen who have the ability to outmaneuver a forecheck and break out quickly.
The pair are both left-handed, the only Edmonton duo that has to play that way, which adds another layer of difficulty to breakouts and neutral zone regroups. They won’t be able to avoid an aggressive forecheck as effectively as an oppositely-handed pair which favours one player taking control and accelerating the breakout.
The challenge this pairing faces is knowing their roles, probably the most important of which is that Nurse leave the breakout passing to Walman and that Walman recognizes when he is the better option to move forward with the play.
What do the stats say?
If there was any doubt that the two can be a good pairing, or at least, that Walman is Nurse’s best possible partner, here is a definitive stat to change your mind. From the start of last season till March 6 (the day that Walman was traded to the Oilers), Darnell Nurse’s CF% was 51.2%, GF% 51.6%, and P/GP 0.39. From March 7 until the end of the season his CF% was 56%, GF% was 58%, and P/GP was 0.58.
Nurse had spent time playing with each of Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, and Ty Emberson with on-ice 5v5 CF% of 60.6%, 58.5%, 54.2%, and 48.4% respectively, making his best partner Jake Walman.
During the regular season the pair led the team in defensive lines over 100 minutes played in 5v5 CF%, and 5v5 GF%, and was second in xGF%.
Now this is a very small sample size to look at, and frankly that drastic of a change almost seems too good to be true. It may be the case that they can’t continue on like that this season, but it is extremely encouraging for now.
If they can be only a shade of what they were in that last month and a half of last season, the Oilers can enjoy two unique defensive pairings with CF% closer to 60% than 50%—something that was only achieved by Carolina, Colorado, Florida, the Islanders, and Utah in the NHL last year.
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