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There’s no end to the criticism. That is predictable. It’s what happens when a defenceman expected to be the team’s best, and is paid as such, delivers mediocre-to-poor results in big Stanley Cup playoff games, then carries that iffy play forward into a new season.
Much is expected of such a player in the prime of his career. There’s no end to the discontent when he regresses and starts making mistakes like he did as a raw rookie, running around, puck watching, failing to cover, even losing physical battles.
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But Darnell Nurse is on the uptick again. He’s looking fast and mean. He’s winning pucks, throwing hits, making proper reads, covering the danger man in the slot, and snapping off smoking head-man passes to breaking teammates for Grade A shots.
Nurse was inconsistent in the first 10 games of the 2024-25 season, perhaps still shaking out the pain and weakness of the injuries he played with in Stanley Cup Final run.
But in the last seven games, his play has taken off. He had no goals and three assists in his first 10 games, and was -6 for official NHL plus-minus.
In his last seven games, he’s got two goals, four assists and he’s +8.
Nurse was leaking Grade A shots against in the first 10 games, making all kinds of mistakes. He made 26 such major mistakes on Grade A shots in that stretch, 2.23 per 15 minutes of even strength play, a miserable number for a d-man.
But in the past seven games, he’s made just 10 such major mistakes, just 1.05 per 15, the kind of low rate of miscues we saw from Adam Larsson and Kris Russell when they were in their defensive prime with the Oilers.
Nurse has been the Oil’s best d-man in this run of games, which is saying something, as Edmonton has one of the best top pairings in the NHL with Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. But those two have seen their play level off after a red hot start, while Nurse’s game is taking off.
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Not only has his defensive play picked up, but he’s breaking up all kinds of plays and making sharp passes to kick off scoring chance sequences. It’s not like he’s rushing the puck more, but he’s got his head and eyes up and is finding forwards with solid up-ice passes. He’s starting to boss the game.
Nurse-Kulak pairing hitting the spot
Why the difference in Nurse’s game?
Perhaps he’s feeling more healthy. Perhaps he’s simplified his game, focusing on playing his position, covering the defensive slot, and moving the puck fast and smart. But one obvious difference is that he’s partnering more with another solid d-man in Brett Kulak.
In the first 10 games of the year, Nurse played little with Kulak, just 23 out of his 175 even strength minutes, 13 per cent of his time on ice. He was out more with Ty Emberson and Travis Dermott.
But in the past seven games, Nurse has played 56 of his 143 even strength minutes with Kulak, 39 per cent of his time.
The Nurse-Kulak pairing overall has a 61.3 shot for percentage, 54 shots for, 34 against, and has been out for four goals for, one against.
It’s evidently an experiment that’s working. Perhaps the Oilers should push it even harder, going with Kulak and Nurse most of their even strength ice time.
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One downside of this plan is that Travis Dermott has so far struggled but it’s unlikely the Oilers will want to go with two right shot players, Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson, on the third pairing. Perhaps a trade for a big, rangy third-pairing left shot d-man is in order, someone who won’t cost much but is a slightly better fit for the team than Dermott. Or maybe Dermott will start to play more effective hockey, with a Dermott-Emberson pairing emerging as a solid choice for limited minutes.
Emberson has played solid, low-event hockey for the Oilers, so he’s a good bet for that third-pairing at least.
As for Nurse, this excellent run has lasted just seven games. But he’s had stretches of great play lasting for several months in the past. Can he do it again?
Why not?
He’s in the prime of his career. He earned his big contract for a reason.
He should be playing his smartest, safest, most effective hockey as an NHL pro just now.
And he is.
Now comes the rest of consistently doing it.
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