[RE-SIGNING] Darnell Nurse

[LawMan]

Really, this is all down to Jones' agent. He's the one who kicked off this lunacy. Heisakanen should be sending his agent angry texts right about now...

Agreed with this. In the flat cap and cash-strapped offseason we are in I figured Nurse would be getting $7.5-8m. Nurse is a very solid #1 Dman, the only defensive shutdown the Oilers have so they needed to keep him. Unfortunately the Jones' deal blew the market sideways. Had Nurse signed before Jones I think he would have gotten $1m less (and then Jones might have gotten less). It's wild how the other deals (Werenski as well) have gone after Jones' deal.

[tweetdrivr]

Agreed with this. In the flat cap and cash-strapped offseason we are in I figured Nurse would be getting $7.5-8m. Nurse is a very solid #1 Dman, the only defensive shutdown the Oilers have so they needed to keep him. Unfortunately the Jones' deal blew the market sideways. Had Nurse signed before Jones I think he would have gotten $1m less (and then Jones might have gotten less). It's wild how the other deals (Werenski as well) have gone after Jones' deal.

Bowman ruining it for everyone. Again.

[rataylor22]

So first thing's first here, lets be perfectly clear. Pelech certainly doesn't do the things Nurse does offensively, but Nurse absolutely does not do the things Pelech does defensively. Not even close.

Nurse.jpg Pelech.jpg

But more importantly, this massive overpay is the Ken Holland and more specifically, the Oilers mantra. Play a player more than 50% of the time with McDavid (was 58% of his total minutes), ignore the fact that they shot over double their career shooting percentage, and pay them $1-$3M more per year than they are worth. They already did it this offseason with Barrie, and in the past they've done it with Kassian, Chiasson, and I'm sure other players as well. Nurse shot 10.4% last year and is more than likely to shoot around 5% next year and the rest of his career.

Love this contract, as long as you're not an Oilers fan. They make the same predictable mistake every damn time.

The people that think Nurse is actually a shutdown defenseman are wild. He might be, there's just simply no trackable stat that says he is.

[Axeman33]

So first thing's first here, lets be perfectly clear. Pelech certainly doesn't do the things Nurse does offensively, but Nurse absolutely does not do the things Pelech does defensively. Not even close.

Nurse.jpg Pelech.jpg

But more importantly, this massive overpay is the Ken Holland and more specifically, the Oilers mantra. Play a player more than 50% of the time with McDavid (was 58% of his total minutes), ignore the fact that they shot over double their career shooting percentage, and pay them $1-$3M more per year than they are worth. They already did it this offseason with Barrie, and in the past they've done it with Kassian, Chiasson, and I'm sure other players as well. Nurse shot 10.4% last year and is more than likely to shoot around 5% next year and the rest of his career.

Love this contract, as long as you're not an Oilers fan. They make the same predictable mistake every damn time.

The people that think Nurse is actually a shutdown defenseman are wild. He might be, there's just simply no trackable stat that says he is.

So let's play "you're a hockey GM".

You're Ken Holland. Darnell Nurse is coming into UFA next summer. Do you:

A. Trade him
B. Re-sign him
C. Let him walk

If you trade him, what do the Oilers have left for true 1D? They don't grow on trees and most teams, if they have them, don't trade them.

If you're Darnell Nurse, going into UFA, seeing what the other top Dmen are getting, are you not asking Holland for the same type of money?

If Holland lets him walk for nothing and watches him sign elsewhere, you just drafted and developed a top pairing Dman for someone else.

So, you're Ken Holland. What are you doing?

[Invictus]

Trade him for Seabrook

[rataylor22]

Well the Oilers don't have a true #1 D now, so letting him walk or trading him doesn't mean they "no longer have a true #1 D". However seeing the price Columbus just got for Seth Jones, I quite easily trade him for a similar (or truth be told probably better) package over choosing to pay a $6-$7M player $9.25M.

So I guess in this scenario, my first choice would be to sign him to a proper contract commensurate with his actual worth, point out his massively inflated shooting% and his large amount of time spent with at least 1 and often 2 of the top 10 players on earth, and, if he is unwilling to be reasonable, my second choice would be to trade him for a massive haul and let someone else overpay him. What I would not allow myself to do is get continually bent over a barrel by players with inflated stats from playing with Connor McDavid, however that is seemingly the path that Holland prefers.

[tweetdrivr]

I must say I love people mixing their metaphors - and as far as that goes getting “bent over a barrel” is easily one of the best I’ve ever heard. Well played.

[rataylor22]

For example, is Edmonton a better team this year and next year with:

Darnell Nurse

or

Jake Bean
Adam Boqvist
Cole Sillinger
~$6M in cap space

I think the answer is very easy and not at all close.

[rtstr]

So first thing's first here, lets be perfectly clear. Pelech certainly doesn't do the things Nurse does offensively, but Nurse absolutely does not do the things Pelech does defensively. Not even close.

Nurse.jpg Pelech.jpg

But more importantly, this massive overpay is the Ken Holland and more specifically, the Oilers mantra. Play a player more than 50% of the time with McDavid (was 58% of his total minutes), ignore the fact that they shot over double their career shooting percentage, and pay them $1-$3M more per year than they are worth. They already did it this offseason with Barrie, and in the past they've done it with Kassian, Chiasson, and I'm sure other players as well. Nurse shot 10.4% last year and is more than likely to shoot around 5% next year and the rest of his career.

Love this contract, as long as you're not an Oilers fan. They make the same predictable mistake every damn time.

The people that think Nurse is actually a shutdown defenseman are wild. He might be, there's just simply no trackable stat that says he is.

I agree with all of this and it very nicely sums up my thoughts about this signing. Well said!

[blayze]

Nurse is not a #1 D-man.

Right place at the right time. He should send Jones a case of wine.

[Axeman33]

Well the Oilers don't have a true #1 D now, so letting him walk or trading him doesn't mean they "no longer have a true #1 D". However seeing the price Columbus just got for Seth Jones, I quite easily trade him for a similar (or truth be told probably better) package over choosing to pay a $6-$7M player $9.25M.

So I guess in this scenario, my first choice would be to sign him to a proper contract commensurate with his actual worth, point out his massively inflated shooting% and his large amount of time spent with at least 1 and often 2 of the top 10 players on earth, and, if he is unwilling to be reasonable, my second choice would be to trade him for a massive haul and let someone else overpay him. What I would not allow myself to do is get continually bent over a barrel by players with inflated stats from playing with Connor McDavid, however that is seemingly the path that Holland prefers.

I'm not sure what your definition of a "true #1 Dman" is. To me, Nurse IS a true #1 Dman. He plays in all situations, and was on the ice more than any other player in the league, minus two players (Doughy and Burns). He finished 7th in Norris trophy voting, which in itself is impressive because he was the 15th highest scoring Dman last season. Not bad again considering the league focuses on scoring as it's primary outlier for deciding that award. Mixed in with the fact he was a secondary option for PP time. He shoots, he hits, he moves the puck, and he fights. What else do you want from a 1D?

Listen, we all knew he was going to get overpaid once the other D started getting bigger money than expected but to say he's not a 1D is a little ignorant. I don't say that word in the rude way.

There's a couple other things to consider here. I remember when everyone thought Draisaitl was overpaid and that worked out well. Nurse is 26 and for a Dman, he's just entering his prime years. I'd rather have seen the long term deal when he signed his last two year deal but he simply wasn't there yet. He's there now. He's a leader on this team.

The biggest thing that people are forgetting is the bond with McDavid and Draisaitl. When these negotiations began, Nurse wanted a 4-5 year deal because that's when Draisaitl and McDavid would be needing new deals. This could well be a stepping point to both of the key forwards re-signing to stay with Nurse. You can look at all the numbers you want, and try to see who's worth what, but if you don't think these guys want to play together, you're mistaken. RNH signed long term because he wanted to play with these guys. Nurse signed long term because he wants to play with these guys. This contract, like RNHs could be huge stepping stones to keeping McDavid and Draisaitl in a few years.

Do I like the number, no, but I know how upset many where when Larsson left this summer. Oilers could not afford to watch Nurse leave next year. The Oilers are in the prime years of McDavid and Draisaitl and can't afford to lose their horse for a package of picks and prospects and in order to get what Nurse brings each night was still going to cost them dearly. Columbus isn't in the same place as Edmonton and can afford to watch their horse walk for picks and prospects.

To wrap this up, I never expected you to like this deal and fully expected you to be one of the loudest drums criticizing this deal here because that's what you do; criticize the Oilers. It's all good. It's not your team that you cheer for so your analysis is taken with a grain of salt.

Go Oilers!

[SeaDawg]

I like Nurse well enough, but not at that price. Not even close. I'd much prefer Pelech over Nurse, especially with their respective contracts.

I'm not sure what I would have done if I were in Holland's place. I'd like to believe I wouldn't bend to the demands and I'd trade Nurse for a package similar to what Jones hauled, but perhaps an offer like that wasn't out there, considering Nurse's contract demands.

I would have been quite happy to have Nurse at about $2 million less per year.

[blayze]

For what it's worth I ain't criticizing the deal. They had to do what they had to do.

Nurse's agent had them over a barrel and they had to lock him up given lack of depth at D and scarcity at the position - totally get it.

Just saying there's no need to over rationalize expensive deals by stretching someone's true skill and contribution.

[rataylor22]

A true #1D does those things while putting up good results, not while getting caved, which Nurse did. It’s a pretty simple but effective definition.

[Axeman33]

A true #1D does those things while putting up good results, not while getting caved, which Nurse did. It’s a pretty simple but effective definition.

LOL, how many 1D are in the league in your eyes then? Four? Five?

I didn't see you criticizing the Makar deal, the Werenski deal or the Jones deal. None of them must be 1D in your eyes either but you went to great lengths to point out how "bad" this deal is.