Fifth Player Trending Up
Speaking of Nurse, that segways nicely into the next name on the list.
When both of our top pairing guys were struggling last year for different reasons, Nurse stepped in and did a great job right away.
Fast forward to now, and he’s doing the same thing this season subbing in for Klefbom on the top pairing.
With 5 goals and 15 points in 35 games he’s got a 0.43 PPG ratio which projects out to 35 points (goals are 0.14 which projects to 11), both career bests for Nurse and if the 23-year-old continues to produce like this in the coming seasons he might make Klefbom expendable. Unless they convince Sekera to waive his NMC so they can either expose him in the Seattle draft or trade him somewhere else.
The best part of this offense is where it comes from. Currently Nurse plays 19:41 a game at even strength, 3rd most on the team, and 2:13 on the PK, 2nd most on the team (no shorthanded goals, unfortunately. Perhaps someday….), yet only 0:58 on the PP per game – good for 15th in the team.
This means his offense isn’t being buoyed by lots of PP time as it tends to for some d-men around the league when scoring is easier.
Now naturally those numbers will go out the window now that he’s on the top pairing, but even so, it’s still very impressive.
Last season Nurse was one of the few bright spots on D, and he looks even better this season.
Klefbom’s injury will result in a lot more ice time, and coach Ken Hitchcock has said on the record that he trusts him, which is huge for not just a young 23-year-old but a young 23-year-old defenseman.
The only concern with Nurse’s game right now is his +/- has dipped from +15 last year too -2 this year. No matter what you think of the stat itself, you have to admit that’s a bit of a concern. He was playing with Kris Russell on the right side for most of the year, and now is playing with an even better player in Adam Larsson, whom he also had chemistry with last year.
I’m not too worried about his +/- though, that’s something that will work itself out with more polishing as time goes on. We may see an even bigger dip in that now with more ice time depending on how he handles it. It’s important to remember defense is the hardest position in the NHL to master and that most players – d-men especially – don’t develop in a straight line.
Either way, Nurse is still a valuable player going forward – maybe even a future top pairing guy. At this point, it would take an of a lot to pry him from this roster.