I have to vent about Nurse for a second. I’m just tired of it.
He has to f***ing go.
People saying he just needs a better partner.. what? What kind of partner? We’ve given him many different partners with different playstyles.
He did well in the shortened season with Barrie, that’s pretty much it. After the shortened season suddenly the Barrie chemistry was completely gone. Similar thing happened with Ceci, good for a bit and then it all crumbles away.
So maybe he needs defensive dman as a partner, even though Nurse should be more than capable of being a steady dman himself. Well, he got plenty of time with Larsson and that pairing was trash.
Most importantly he was trash with Bouchard. You’ve got a 34/35 year old Ekholm, Nurse has all the tools Ekholm has, yet it is a disaster pairing whenever it’s tried.
Nurse for whatever reason doesn’t get it. Maybe it’s just between the ears, he just doesn’t have the IQ.
I think he needs a change of scenery to snap out of it, get serious about his game. I think the 9.25 went to his head, he thinks he’s better than he is. For his own good and most importantly, the Oilers own good, move this f***ing guy ASAP.
I see similar issues.
Problem A - he needs a babysitter D partner as a 10 year veteran that makes $9M to simply not be a massive liability
Problem B - I have absolutely no idea what that D partner looks like. It's like playing Russian roulette, we could acquire the exact type of defender that theoretically should be perfect with him, only for that to flop too.
The only solution is for the organization to change their approach with him completely and find some way to get his game back to a form that makes him playable. I think there are two approaches that could be taken, but you would probably have to be close to the player to know which one to take.
Avenue A (Tough Love) - Darnell, you're starting the season firmly as the third pair left defensemen. You don't have the "A" anymore, and Kulak is playing second pair minutes. More ice time is earned gradually, like a rookie. Get back to basics, re-learn the basics of the game that constantly get f***ed up, perform, and earn your ice.
Avenue B (collaborative) - Darnell, your game is currently not in a place where you can be relied upon in significant moments against tough competition and we both need to acknowledge that. You're going to work closely with the skills and development coach in the off season to recognize problem areas in your game and we will work as a team to fix them.
What we can't do? Just leave him to his own devices and hope he isn't the same Nurse in October, because he will be. What we know about him is he has possibly the worst hockey sense I've ever seen, likely a complete lack of recognition of how bad is game is at the moment, and difficulty identifying areas to improve on and actually do it. Time to either hold his hand, or beat him with a stick. Rolling it back or hoping that a random D acquisition will just fix him isn't it.