Last night, we looked at 2013 first round draft pick Darnell Nurse and his style of play, strengths, and weaknesses. Today, we’ll ask the burning question regarding the top-prospect on defense, should he stay or should he go?
The Current Roster:
The Oilers have five players that will 100% be on the roster this coming season. New additions Nikita Nikitin and Mark Fayne are seen as top-four options by the club, while captain Andrew Ference, veteran Jeff Petry, and current RFA Justin Schultz will all be returning to action.
Martin Marincin, barring a training camp collapse, will likely be back as well, while Keith Aulie, signed July 1st, seems to have the number seven spot in his grip, and will have to lose it with a terrible training camp or an injury between now and opening night.
Nurse’s Fit:
We discussed Darnell’s style last night, but what he brings is not what teams put in their depth position, aka the number seven spot. For it to be worthwhile for Edmonton to keep Nurse, he’ll need to be playing every single night. The end goal is for Nurse to be a top-pairing defender that goes against the top-opponents and plays that shut-down game he’s played in the OHL.
His long term fit is in the top-four, but his short term fit would be on the third pairing, learning and adapting to the pro-game. He’d need to beat out a few different players, but the spot is there.
The Road:
Nurse would need to beat out both Oscar Klefbom and Martin Marincin to make the roster. Both of those guys played in the NHL last year, and both looked good in their stints, especially Marincin, who played about half of the season and in a top-four role. Nurse will need to blow off Dallas Eakins’ socks to beat out Marincin for a roster spot in Edmonton.
He could also make it if Justin Schultz’s contract negotiations continue to be a problem, although I’d imagine we see a resolution in this regard sometime soon. There’s been no bad blood between the two sides, and neither decided to take the other to arbitration.
The Pros Of The NHL:
The pros to having Darnell Nurse make the jump to the NHL are obvious. Nurse has proven a lot at the OHL level, and he’d now be able to learn the pro game and make the adjustments needed to be a successful NHL player. We’d get to see his skill-set up close and personal, and get to see if he really is everything he is hyped up to be.
The biggest pro would be that Edmonton would be closer to having that dominate shut-down defender in the line-up, and that Nurse has the potential to make a difference for the Oilers. He’d be a step closer to development, and one has to think this team won’t take off until a defender like Nurse comes through.
The Cons Of The NHL:
There are a lot of cons too. The Oilers would be saving a year on Nurse’s ELC by leaving him in the OHL, and that might be for the best. Nurse will also get another year to bulk up a bit more and fix some of the few issues in his game, including his shot. There’s no such thing as developing a player for too long, so another year of dominating the OHL might actually help him work on a few things.
Nurse is still developing, and throwing him into the NHL lineup now, when he very well might not be ready, could kill his confidence and his development. He’s still not a perfect prospect, and has things he can improve on.
The Pros Of The OHL:
Nurse would almost certainly be a lock for Team Canada at the World Juniors in December if he went back to the OHL, and that would give him an experience that he missed out on this past season. It would give him a shot to show his worth against the best juniors from all over the world, which is something that would greatly help his game out.
He’ll also get another year of maturing, and will get to again serve as a top leader for the Greyhounds.
The Verdict:
The Oilers did the smart thing by not handing any prospects a roster spot this fall. They put in veteran roadblocks at the NHL level that can play a legit role and keep the kids in their respective development leagues. Darnell Nurse will need to beat out some more seasoned players who showed well last year, and he’ll have a tough time doing so.
Nurse brings the exact skill-set Edmonton is dying for, and has the ability to do it on the top-pairing, something Edmonton has lacked for the better part of a decade. That all said, Nurse still has some things that need work, and could benefit in a big way from another OHL season.
Personally, I’d let Nurse stick around for most of training camp, and then send him back as one of the final cuts to the OHL. Don’t waste a year of the ELC and let him develop a little bit, the perfect combination. This kid could very well be special, and the cons of keeping him in the NHL and the pros of sending him back far out way the pros of keeping him. Let the kid develop the right way.
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