Darnell Nurse: Here To Stay

Connor McDavid is back and all is well again in Oil Country. Well, for the most part anyways…

It seems that we can never be happy as a fan-base, there must always be some cause of concern. Now, after 10 years of missing the playoffs, some of these concerns are well founded but sometimes it’s complaining just for the sake of complaining. It drives me off the wall. The most recent “problem” that has been brought to the attention of the team came after a spectacular 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, a game that will most definitely be remembered by many as the heroic return of Connor McDavid. The team played fantastic but some fans are dwelling on that one goal against, where Darnell Nurse made a bad pinch leading to a 2 on 1 goal for Columbus’ Matt Calvert. This misplay by Nurse seemed to be enough to convince a small group of Oilers fans that the team would be better off without Darnell, and that Peter Chiarelli should explore trading him. Yah, I know…

Darnell Nurse was drafted 7th overall in the 2013 draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Playing his junior career in the OHL with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Nurse built up a reputation as being a big brooding presence on the blueline as well as having a knack for moving the puck up ice. It seemed like a match made in heaven for the Oilers, who were missing a difference maker on the backend, so it made a lot of sense to pick him. In the years after drafting him, the Oilers saw Nurse improve his game substantially and he went on to be named one of Team Canada’s best players in the 2015 World Junior Championships, and become one of the premier defensive prospects in the CHL. Things were looking very good for Nurse’s career with the Oilers. He missed out on making the team out of camp but was recalled on October 26th, and he’s been with the NHL club since.

Nurse has had some up and downs during his first prolonged stint in the NHL, but I think its fair to say that he is in the process of adjusting to the speed and skill of the NHL. As we all should know, it takes a lot longer for NHL defenceman to develop to their full potential than it takes for NHL forwards to, and Darnell is no exception to the rule. We’ve seen glimpses of what he capable of in both ends of the ice, did we all forget about that cannon of a shot for his 1st NHL goal? How about his willingness to stick up for his teammates against guys like Phaneuf and Lucic? Not to mention that almost every game you’ll see him pummeling some guy along the boards, making life rough for the opposition. These are the glimpses of the player that he can be, and its a player that Edmonton needs, we just need to give him time to develop these qualities. He’s had lapses in his positioning early in his career, no doubt about it, but he’s only played 44 games in this league, we can’t expect him to be Shea Weber right off the hop! When we drafted him, we made an investment, the Oilers let him develop for the rest of his junior career, they gave him time in the AHL, and now they’re letting him adjust to the NHL, and to give up on him after a measly 44 games because of a little slump would be ridiculous.

So, to keep it short and sweet, stop talking about trading Nurse….it makes little to no sense.

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