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The Darnell Nurse Hate Undeserved

By Devon Hladunewich

Jun 2, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) reacts to missing a shot on the Colorado Avalanche in the second period of game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 2, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) reacts to missing a shot on the Colorado Avalanche in the second period of game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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I have noticed that ever since Darnell Nurse signed his 8-year, $74 million contract that Edmonton Oilers fans had had a short fuse when it comes to Nurse. Most things towards him have been negative, but are these negative vibes worth deserving?

Darnell Nurse Is The Edmonton Oilers Number 1 Defenceman

Like it or not Darnell Nurse is the Edmonton Oilers number one defenceman. If you don`t like that fact I think you will need to get over it. This fact can be seen in his time on ice numbers. During the regular season, Darnell Nurse averaged 23:30 TOI.

That ice time is almost more than 3 minutes more than any other defenseman on the team. Mattias Ekholm was second on the team averaging 20:47. The gap closed a little bit in the playoffs between Nurse and the other dman, but Nurse still was the most used defenceman.

Quality Of Competition

According to PuckIQ the Nurse-Ceci paring played the most time against elite players. Ceci played 37.4% of his ice time against elite players and Darnell Nurse played 34.7% of his time against the elite. What this shows me is that Jay Woodcrorf trusts these two players to shut down the other team’s top players.

Even with these two players playing over a third of their time against the other team’s elite, they are going to give up the most goals against, as they are playing against the players who are meant to score. The fact that the top pair still has a positive goal for % is something I like to see.

Nurse has a 55.8% goals for and Ceci has 60.0%. When it comes to winning hockey games the main thing that you need to do is score more goals. When Nurse is on the ice the Edmonton Oilers score more goals. This is why I think he is a main part of this team and needs to stay an Oiler.

Haters Gunna Hate

When it comes to fans throwing shade on Nurse I think all they do is focus on the bad plays and ignore the good plays. Nurse will make one bad play once every few games. The rest of the time he makes the right play. The haters only see the bad plays.

How many times does he break up good scoring play, or block a high-quality scoring chance? It happens a lot, you just need not have tunnel vision. If you only focus on bad plays that is all you are going to see.

What I want all of you to do next season is watch Darnell Nurse with an open mind. You will notice that he is a good, solid defenseman. Don`t focus just on the bad plays, but watch for the good plays as well. If you do that I think you will change your mind on Darnell Nurse.

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