When it comes down to timing and good fortune, Darnell Nurse almost certainly fits this criteria. It's why he was able to get a deal from the Edmonton Oilers worth eight years and $74 million, which he signed in Aug. 2021.
Using the saying that perception is often reality, Nurse's agent was able to argue his client was playing top pairing minutes. In addition, there were other young and talented blueliners signing big deals around the same time, which helped serve as a template for making his case.
In defence of the 29-year-old, he was coming off a career year with single-season bests in goals, +/- rating and average ice time, despite being limited to 56 games due to the fallout from COVID-19. Still, it didn't change the reality that although he was logging first pairing minutes every night, this was almost by default given the options which were available to the Oilers at the time.
Nurse's contract among the very worst in the NHL
As a result of all this, it will come as little surprise to Oilers fans that Nurse has been included among this year's top-10 worst NHL contracts. The list was complied by The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn (subscription required), with the Oilers D-man ranked at number nine overall.
Based on The Athletic's model, Luszczyszyn writes that Nurse's annual deal should be worth $5.9 million rather than the $9.25 million he currently takes home every season. This difference becomes even more alarming, with the acknowledgement that the calculation doesn't take into account playoff data.
That's right -- if you did include playoff data from this past season, the 2013 seventh overall draft pick's annual salary worth would be even lower than $5.9 million. His play during the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final was horrendous, highlighted (or should that be lowlighted) by tying with Derek Ryan and Vincent Desharnais for a team-worst -9 rating.
Things got so bad for Nurse during the playoffs, that there was a certain element of 'what if' surrounding the defenceman. For example, Oil on Whyte's Almar Reyes wrote an article looking at three players the Oilers should have drafted instead back in 2013.
Just to be clear in all of this, it's not that Nurse is a terrible player in a general sense, with him possessing a solid combination of talent, durability and physicality. He's good for around 40 points per season, doesn't really suffer serious injuries, and is usually at or around the top on the team in blocks and hits.
However, the Hamilton, Ontario native is better suited to his current position on the Oilers, as part of their second pairing. As a result -- whether it's harsh or not -- he's going to be viewed negatively by a lot of people just based on how much he's overpaid to play hockey in the National Hockey League, on a deal which will continue to hang over the organisation's head for another six seasons.