Finding a partner for Darnell Nurse ‘a work in progress’

Article content

Already a loss for a guy named Ty.

After Ty Emberson had a nervous first two periods with Darnell Nurse against the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday, then was moved beside Brett Kulak in the third defence pairing for the third period with the Oilers behind five-zip, Travis Dermott will partner Nurse against Chicago and Connor Bedard in Game 2 of the season.

Dermott, who has 330 NHL games, played the last 20 minutes on his off side with Nurse in the 6-0 Jets blowout loss. On Friday, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed the lefty will be on right side with Nurse Saturday. This could be a day-to-day, week-to-week situation, trying to find a workmate for Nurse as a No. 4 D, of course.

Article content

Maybe Emberson, who came to the Oilers in August for Cody Ceci and has only played 31 NHL games (30 in San Jose), will get more looks with Nurse, but for now, he’s in the No. 6 hole with Kulak.

Sheltered, much less glare, as he grows into being on a Cup contender.

And, of course, the Oilers may look to a veteran at the trade deadline. Right now, the pool of available right-shot D who can certainly go into a top 4—an Adam Larsson type—is wading pool shallow,, but we’ve got six months before trade deadline.

“We’re looking for somebody (alongside Nurse) who can play big minutes, who can defend well and they can relate to each other,” said Oiler coach Kris Knoblauch, who coached Emberson on the New York Rangers farm team in Hartford, so knows the 24-year-old better than just about anybody.

“You look at the chemistry that (Mattias) Ekholm and (Evan) Bouchard have built over last season…that didn’t happen overnight. We have to find a guy for Darnell and we’ll see who that is.”

“Everything’s a work in progress…we’re still working with the lines, the D pairs. We’ll find out what’s best for the individuals, also the collective team. Travis has the opportunity for that spot right now and we’ll find if it’s good enough or not,” he said.

Article content

Article content

This switch from Nurse to Kulak certainly isn’t disciplinary for Emberson.

“No, not at all,” said Knoblauch.

“The team wasn’t going well the first two periods and sometimes you make a switch to help an individual. Sometimes you do a switch just to change things up for the team. In the third period, I thought the team played better and Nurse and Dermott played better and so did Kulak and Emberson,” said Knoblauch.

Ceci, closing in on 800 NHL games, was Nurse’s partner for much of his three years here with switches to Philip Broberg in last spring’s playoff, or little runs with Kulak or Vinny Desharnais.

“Cody and Darnell spent so much time together, they knew what to expect from one another. Now, we have half a D corps new and we’re trying to find out what’s best for the team,” said Knoblauch.

Emberson was pointedly put beside Nurse in the Oilers dressing room after the summer trade, likely to get some communication going, always a good thing. But, he struggled in the opener, not that he was alone. It was a red-rotten performance for the team, outscored by six goals at home.

Emberson and Nurse practised together all camp but they only had one exhibition game as partners because Nurse was held out with a oblique muscle injury carryover from the Florida playoff series.

Article content

So, precious few game reps.

They needed multiple games together, not one.

But it didn’t happen, much like the fall of 2023 when the Oilers maybe thought about Ekholm with fellow Swede Broberg in camp, with Bouchard playing with Nurse, but Ekholm (hip) was hurt.

The first league game together didn’t go well, but again, the defencemen didn’t get much help from the forwards either. That said, Emberson seemed to fight the puck.

“You can always say you’re not nervous but first league game, new team, new crowd, new atmosphere, the systems, there’s always the adjustment. It’s a new speed, opening of a season. But, I’m nervous in game 82, too. It’s fast, it’s tense,” said Emberson.

Article content

So what does Emberson know he has to work on after Game 1?

“My composure, a couple of puck plays, positioning things…slowing my game down, of matching the speed of the other team, rather than being too fast or quick,” he said.

“The first game of the season wasn’t good enough from my end or anybody’s end. You learn from that and build on it. I know what I have to do better. I watched some video, but we’ve all played hockey long enough to know what we need to work on,” said Emberson.

Article content

And if Emberson and Nurse had six games, not one in pre-season? Better?

“Yeah, probably,” he laughed. “But he had other stuff he was working on.”

But for now, he’ll be with another veteran Kulak.

“As it goes on, I think I’ll get more comfortable (new situation).”

Golden Knights re-claim Raphael Lavoie

Raphael Lavoie’s game of ping-pong finally is over.

He’s off to Vegas’s AHL farm team in Henderson, NV.

The Oilers farmhand winger, who has been in an Edmonton hotel all week while this waiver shenanigans goes on, went back on waivers Thursday, and once again Vegas claimed him as they did earlier in the week.

The Golden Knights always wanted him on their AHL club, not their NHL roster feeling agent Pat Brisson’s son Brendan is a better RW fit, but had to wait to see if any other team that had more points than them last season, also put in a claim on Lavoie.

According to PuckPedia, nobody did Friday.

So the wild week is over for Lavoie.

Waivers by Oilers Sunday. Claimed by Vegas Monday. Waivers by Vegas Tuesday, reclaimed by Oilers Wednesday. Waivers by Edmonton Thursday, Claimed again by Vegas Friday.

Article content

Vegas can now send Lavoie, the Oilers’ 2019 second-round draft pick who played seven NHL games last season but couldn’t crack the roster today, to the minors. A change of scenery for the talented offensive player Lavoie, who didn’t fit here.

This ‘n that

• Great news that former Oilers goalie Andy Moog, who has had serious cancer concerns, has a clean bill of health. Moog was in town for the playoffs last spring and got a huge hand when his picture went up on the Jumbotron. Some day Moog might have his name up on the Oilers Wall of Fame…
• Evander Kane, three weeks after his abdominal surgery in New York, was walking around, and not too gingerly, Wednesday after being introduced to the crowd at the season-opener. Big difference between walking and skating, hard, of course…
• Former Oilers team president Bob Nicholson is now an advisor and alternate governor, hockey ops, for the Oiler-owned junior Oil Kings…
• Ex Oilers draft pick/farmhand forward Carter Savoie, who started the season in Turku in the Finnish Elite League, is no longer on their active roster after five games. He signed an AHL deal with Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ farm team…
• Milan Lucic, still waiting to be cleared to play by the NHL after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program, continues to work out and skate, waiting for the phone to ring offering NHL work. His agent Gerry Johannson thinks it could be another couple of weeks before the NHL makes a call on his situation. He’s been skating in New Jersey…
• Oilers 2024 sixth-round draft pick forward Dalyn Wakely, who finished third in OHL scoring last season, was just traded from North Bay to Barrie, where Oilers 2023 top pick D Beau Akey is. Barrie has a shot at winning the OHL title this season…
• Geoff Sanderson, the former Oilers winger, with fantastic speed and a big shot off the wing, was spotted at Rogers Place Wednesday night for the Oiler opener. Jake’s dad, whose last NHL games were with Oilers in 2007-2008 (he was traded from Philly along with Joni Pitkanen for Joffrey Lupul and Jason Smith), is giving pro scouting a first-time whirl with the New Jersey Devils. He’s scouting across the country, not just in the west from his home base in Calgary. Geoff, 52, wants to be able to drop in on scouting gigs to see his son, the Senators defenceman…
• (Beau) Akey, who didn’t get into any pre-season games because doctors wouldn’t give him the green light after last season’s major shoulder surgery, has played two junior games. So, good sign…
• Oilers GM Stan Bowman’s dad Scotty has a winter place in Sarasota, Florida, certainly in Hurricane Milton’s path, but the greatest coach in NHL history is safe and back at his other home in Buffalo. Scotty, who turned 91 last month, still watches a slew of NHL games every night on TV.

Article content

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Article content