During the 2015-16 season, Darnell Nurse made the jump to the NHL essentially right from junior hockey. Nurse had only 17 games of AHL experience before being recalled last October and becoming an NHL regular. Nurse, needless to say, struggled adapting to the pro game at its highest level. It also didn’t help that his role was over his head.
Nurse, a young rookie defender, was playing top four minutes alongside Andrej Sekera and was drowning on the ice. His possession numbers were not good, he failed the eye test and there was no offensive upside to be found in his game. I wasn’t ready to call him a bust, but safe to say I was a bit concerned about his progress after one season.
This year, he’s shut me and a lot of others up. Nurse has been in the perfect role, third pairing left-side, and hasn’t been overwhelmed matchup wise or ice time wise. As a result, his possession numbers have been much stronger and he’s looked a lot better to the eye. Darnell Nurse has been an effective NHL defender during the 2016-17 season.
The 2016-17 season is going on hold for Nurse now. It’s been a great growth year for Nurse, but he’s now out “long term” according to Todd McLellan.
The #Oilers have recalled defenceman Dillon Simpson from the @Condors & placed defenceman Darnell Nurse on Injured Reserve.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 3, 2016
The injury, according to the Oilers, is a lower-body injury that Nurse sustained during the win at Winnipeg on Thursday night. Long term probably means we are looking at a month or more for Nurse. This is a tough injury at a really bad time for the young rearguard.
Simpson has been recalled for the second time this season, but I don’t think this stint will be very long for him. Why? Well, there is some good news on the injury front for the Oilers. Brandon Davidson, who was injured on opening night, is skating again and isn’t far from returning. The latest from Jason Gregor.
Brandon Davidson will go on road trip with #Oilers and skate. Likely still 10 days away from playing in a game.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) December 2, 2016
Davidson, who is also a left-shot defender, would be perfect to slide into Nurse’s slot on the depth chart. In fact, I think you could argue that Edmonton is better off with Davidson in the lineup. Not that Nurse is a bad player by any means, but Davidson was highly effective for the Oilers just one season ago.
In the meantime, however, Mark Fayne will get a chance to redeem himself. Fayne struggled mightily last season until he was demoted in December. After a short AHL stint, Fayne returned to the NHL and formed a very strong tandem with Andrej Sekera that faced the toughest opposition for Edmonton.
With Nurse out Oilers D:
Sekera-Benning
Klefbom-Fayne
Russell-Larsson— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) December 3, 2016
Personally, I would have liked to see Fayne and Sekera together again, but that isn’t in the cards for tonight’s tilt against the Anaheim Ducks, a game the Oilers really could use at home. That said, Fayne will slide in with Oscar Klefbom on a pairing that is likely to get its fair share of minutes. Mark Fayne, who I discussed here earlier this week, is going to get a chance to reestablish himself with Nurse now on the shelf.
Interesting things to watch here: Kris Russell returns to his natural side, we’ll see how that impacts his game. Also, Matt Benning is getting the treatment Nurse got last year, a top-four role with Andrej Sekera. We’ll see how long that lasts.
Finally, Edmonton appears to have depth on the blue-line. While none of those pairings is particularly excellent, they all appear to be pretty solid. Could be a night tonight where McLellan can rotate all six through the order.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
