Top 100 Oilers: No. 38 — Darnell Nurse

Notable

Nurse has become a core member in Edmonton and is likely to become a player who plays 1000th games with the organization.

Is that based on play? Partially. There’s no denying that Nurse has had his moments in Copper and Blue. However, it’s mostly because he signed an eight-year deal worth $9.25 million, and the Oilers can’t move on from him.

As a result, the Nurse has become an unpopular figure in the city. Some fans believe his contract is holding back the team’s potential to take the next step. Nurse is an okay player, but isn’t someone who can ever live up to that price. Unfortunately, you can’t go to a game now without hearing about how much he makes.

The Story

Now over 700 games into his career, Nurse is a constant in the Oilers’ top four. The challenge has always been finding him a partner to play with. It was Cody Ceci for a while before he was traded to San Jose. Then, Troy Stecher became “The Nurse Whisperer” until his play fell off. Now, it’s down to Jake Walman to build chemistry with the veteran.

Whatever people want to say about Nurse’s contract is what it is. However, you can never complain about his toughness. He’s the first player to get down to block a shot and throw the body. He’s not afraid to drop the gloves either, fighting many of the toughest players in the league: Jonah Gadjovich, Milan Lucic, and Michael McCarron.

As of today, Edmonton needs more from Nurse. Again, nobody expects him to play up to his contract, but they need more contributions and fewer disappointing nights. Nurse has all the makings to be a fan favourite in Edmonton with his physicality. Offensively, he’s an athletic player who can make highlight reel plays. Those need to occur more often, though, if he wants the fan base to turn back in his favour.

So why is Nurse so high on this list? Well, he is incredibly high on many Oilers record lists. He’s 2nd in goals by a defenceman (88), 6th in assists (230) and 5th in points (318). Additionally, he could finish with more games played in Edmonton than Kevin Lowe (1037), as he is only 263 games behind him.

Hopefully, Nurse can wrap up his time in Edmonton with a ring on his finger. Whether or not that happens, he’ll be right up there with the greats in the Oilers history books.

What Brownlee said

At 26, I don’t know if there’s much more room for development with Nurse. Can he tweak some aspects of his game? I suppose, but at his age, he’s pretty much a finished product. For this contract to make any sense, Nurse has to play at the same level he did last season for the majority of this new deal. That’s the floor, not the ceiling. If he can play the kind of minutes he did, contribute at even-strength the way he did and provide the presence he has, I’m good. A little bump in all aspects? Even better. As always, we’ll have to wait to see how things play out. What I like right here today, given GM Ken Holland’s win-now mandate, is that Nurse’s contract sends a message to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that owner Daryl Katz is willing to back up all the talk about contending now with money that ensures the core of this team will stay together at least until their deals expire. Draisaitl is up after 2024-25, McDavid a year later. If the Oilers can make some noise as actual Cup contenders during this window of opportunity, I’m guessing there’ll be room for talks down the road about McDavid and Draisaitl re-upping with Nurse still locked in. For now, that’s an aside. Nurse has his work cut out to convince the critics he’s worth the term and dollars Holland just agreed to pay him, and that’s as it should be. – Robin Brownlee, Aug. 8, 2021.

The Last 10

• No. 48 — Jason Arnott
• No. 47 — Oscar Klefbom
• No. 46 — Craig Muni
• No. 45 — Tommy Salo
• No. 44 — Kevin McClelland
• No. 43 — Kelly Buchberger
• No. 42 — Bill Guerin
• No. 41 — Mattias Ekholm
• No. 40 — Mike Krushelnyski
• No. 39 — Todd Marchant