Oilers' Darnell Nurse Given Unfortunate NHL Ranking

The Edmonton Oilers are coming off their second straight defeat in the Stanley Cup Final. Many believed that this year would have been different for the Oilers as they entered the championship series with home-ice advantage.

But the team fell again to the Florida Panthers, and they entered the offseason searching for answers. The Oilers still have a strong core in place, but something does need to change if they want to finally get over the hump.

However, this team has been restricted financially due to some poor contracts that the front office has handed out. One of those is from defenseman Darnell Nurse, who signed a massive eight-year deal back in 2021.

The Oilers are paying Nurse $9.2 million per season, and they still have him on the books for five more seasons. This deal has backfired on the Oilers, and it won't be easy for Edmonton to get out of it.

NHL writer Lyle Richardson of Bleacher Report listed the worst contracts in the NHL, and Nurse made the cut.

"Nurse's contract has become an issue as the Oilers attempt to maintain a Stanley Cup contender with limited salary cap space. Now 30 and with 11 NHL seasons under his belt, his contract will become burdensome as his performance declines," Richardson wrote.

The veteran scored five goals and 28 assists last season for the Oilers. And his production in the postseason wasn't much better, as he registered only three goals and five assists over 22 games.

For what he is being paid, the Oilers have needed Nurse to step up more. But his play has decreased, and it's become a real problem for this team.

His best season came in 2020-21, when he posted 16 goals and 20 assists. But Nurse has been declining over the years, and his contract is a major hamper on how the Oilers can build out this team.

Edmonton kept him around to make sure they didn't lose him for nothing, but the contract seems to have been a mistake. Due to the large numbers left on his deal, the Oilers likely won't be able to trade him.

The only path forward for this team is to hope that Nurse can respond and give them the type of production that helped him earn the contract in the first place.