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Confirmed Signing with Link: [EDM] D Evan Bouchard re-signs with the Oilers (2 years, $3.9M AAV)

Lacaar said:
I think most Oiler fans would agree. At least I do. He has 2 years to get his defensive game into shape. Even then it's not likely we'll be able to afford him honestly. What Edmonton absolutely cannot afford is to pay him 10 million dollars to elevate the power play a few percentage points while being the defensive liability he currently is. Tough to give up a good right shot d-man but Edmonton needs to learn how to play a defensive game. Not this PP for the win and completely average or even below average 5 on 5 play.

If I had to guess. They may be planning or at least contingency planning for Broberg to step up and take some minutes from Nurse, to allow Nurse to go to the power play. As of now the Oilers are f***ed in this sense. Nurse actually holds his own on the power play as well. Not as effective as Barrie or Bouchard but it was close numbers wise. But we can't put Nurse on the power play because his defensive game is needed 5 on 5.

The Oilers should have a rule. Nobody is allowed on the 1st unit PP without a long term contract with the exception of McDavid and Draisitl hehe. It just rockets up cost of players to support something that is likely to be effective anyway.
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I agree with some of this. Right now, he is basically what Tyson Barrie was for us. Dynamite on the powerplay, inconsistent in the defensive zone. If he doesn't shore up his defensive play, he likely gets sent out at some point.

There were rumours earlier this summer that they wanted to try Broberg as Nurse's partner. I don't know if they want Nurse on the PP or not, but one of Nurse or Broberg could certainly take some of that time. Broberg coming in and doing well on the PP also could make Bouchard into some pretty valuable trade bait.
 
ManofSteel55 said:
I agree with some of this. Right now, he is basically what Tyson Barrie was for us. Dynamite on the powerplay, inconsistent in the defensive zone. If he doesn't shore up his defensive play, he likely gets sent out at some point.

There were rumours earlier this summer that they wanted to try Broberg as Nurse's partner. I don't know if they want Nurse on the PP or not, but one of Nurse or Broberg could certainly take some of that time. Broberg coming in and doing well on the PP also could make Bouchard into some pretty valuable trade bait.
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I see no reason to use Nurse on the PP unless you mean PP2. Maybe Holland might like that but coaches put the right players in the right roles. Bouchard is the only man for the job. I know that putting all that to Bouchard makes it hard for Holland, but too bad. That's for Holland to figure out.
 
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FlyguyOX said:
Hey if you want to overpay a D-man who piggybacks off your generational forward, like EDM did with Nurse, have at it. Just don't pretend he's a #1 D-man like the Oilers did with Nurse.
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Nurse plays number one minutes against number one competition and comes out on the positive side of it overall. Making the highlight reel for bad mistakes every now and then doesn't erase the positives he brings out there. On top of that, he finished 25th in points last year, with all but one point coming at even strength, which puts him 7th in even strength points. I don't know of any other guys who finish top 10 in even strength points while throwing out good to excellent defensive metrics that wouldn't be considered a #1 defenseman. He's overpaid, but he's still a #1.
 
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Broberg Speed said:
As long as Bouchard puts up major points over the next two seasons I'm happy. Doesn't matter which team he plays for after that. The Oilers will get something good for him in a trade.
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Agreed. This is why we should have taken Dragicevic. Could have groomed a possible replacement (not that he’d be ready to make the jump in 2 years necessarily).

Seems like our scouting/management never learn when it comes to prospects that fall in our lap, but are deemed redundant based on current roster.

Barzal and Connor fall in 2015, we trade out of the pick because we already have too much skill.

Zegras falls in 2019, see above.

I actually like Akey a lot, but I think Dragicevic had the higher pedigree and ceiling.

Oh well, Bouch bombs for 2 years then trade him for picks/prospects.
 
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Pretty much bang on what he’s worth at this point. Yes, he will produce like a madman playing with the Oilers offence with his near generational clapper. But he has a lot to learn on the defensive side of the puck. Foot races and battles are a weak point that may always keep as a liability come playoff time.
 
ManofSteel55 said:
Nurse plays number one minutes against number one competition and comes out on the positive side of it overall. Making the highlight reel for bad mistakes every now and then doesn't erase the positives he brings out there. On top of that, he finished 25th in points last year, with all but one point coming at even strength, which puts him 7th in even strength points. I don't know of any other guys who finish top 10 in even strength points while throwing out good to excellent defensive metrics that wouldn't be considered a #1 defenseman. He's overpaid, but he's still a #1.
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Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
 
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SeanMoneyHands said:
Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
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What do you mean, like instead of being 7th in 5x5 defenseman scoring he'd be 5th or 6th? Or instead of being a +26 he'd be a +35 or something?

I think what you might mean to say is, put him on Nashville and people would perceive him differently.
 
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SeanMoneyHands said:
Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
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this is just fantasy talk

Ekholm went from Nashville to Edmonton and was significantly better. Reverse for Barrie.
 
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SeanMoneyHands said:
Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
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You can say Edmonton isn’t a cup favourite, but they’re absolutely a contender. They aren’t all built the same, and some of them have flaws, but after 109 points last year and only losing out to the Cup champs the last two seasons, they’re definitely contenders.
 
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SeanMoneyHands said:
Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
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I see this type of post all the time but it usually comes down to people thinking a contender needs a top 5 defenseman and another top pair guy beside him. Of course that helps. Make no mistake about it though, he is on a contender and is the #1 defenseman.
 
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ManofSteel55 said:
I see this type of post all the time but it usually comes down to people thinking a contender needs a top 5 defenseman and another top pair guy beside him. Of course that helps. Make no mistake about it though, he is on a contender and is the #1 defenseman.
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And a large reason, along with goaltending, why the McDavid Oilers will never win anything.
 
ManofSteel55 said:
Because they don't have a top 5 defenseman to go along their 20ish ranked defenseman? Ok.
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Because Nurse leading the defensive corps in TOI is a disaster for any "contender." Possibly the worst "number one" in the NHL outside lottery teams.

And that doesn't even address the disasters Smith/Koskinen and Campbell/Skinner have been.
 
Shane Diesel said:
Because Nurse leading the defensive corps in TOI is a disaster for any "contender." Possibly the worst "number one" in the NHL outside lottery teams.

And that doesn't even address the disasters Smith/Koskinen and Campbell/Skinner have been.
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Except literally every metric shows otherwise, including the eye test aside for the most part. He literally plays against the highest quality of competition on the team, and ends up with significantly more goals scored while he is out there than when he is not. And to refute your next point before you make it, it isn't only when he is on the ice with McDavid and Draisaitl. He's a net positive with our bottom six out there too. He also produces offense despite getting the hardest assignments as well. To the point where he was 7th among defensemen in even strength points.

The problem with Nurse is that when he has a meltdown, it's the kind that makes the highlight reel, so everyone just remembers "bonehead stupid play", and assumes it happens all the time. He pinches in sometimes and gets caught, but that's the system that the coaches design, and frankly, he's really good at that too and can often get back. The narrative on Darnell Nurse is just ridiculous.

Oilers fans know better than anyone how awful our goaltending has been. You don't need to scream about that from a soapbox.
 
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ManofSteel55 said:
Except literally every metric shows otherwise,
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Post them.
ManofSteel55 said:
including the eye test aside for the most part.
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Irrelevant, anyone can say a player passes the "eye test" without irony. He doesn't pass my "eye test" so what now?
ManofSteel55 said:
He literally plays against the highest quality of competition on the team, and ends up with significantly more goals scored while he is out there than when he is not.
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He's the only option, really.
 
Shane Diesel said:
Post them.

Irrelevant, anyone can say a player passes the "eye test" without irony. He doesn't pass my "eye test" so what now?

He's the only option, really.
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I don't have time to dig for the stats right now on my break at work, but they aren't hard to find. I might come back and do that later if I have a few minutes.

I mentioned the eye test, because that's literally the only argument that people have for him being bad, because the stats all show that he is good. So anyone saying he looks bad is only using the eye test, and as you mentioned, that's incredibly flawed because most people don't watch enough to know, and only remember highlights.

He isn't the only option. They could use Ekholm against those top matchups, but they use Nurse instead, because he does well against the best in the league.
 
SeanMoneyHands said:
Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
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Ah so if the cap goes up like everyone expects he will be paid fine in 2 ish years then .

But it would be nice to get him a good partner
 
SeanMoneyHands said:
Nurse on a contender is a #2 dman, it's just too bad he's being paid like a franchise #1. Put Nurse on a team like Nashville where he would have less pressure and drop his minutes a bit and watch him improve his overall play.
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Or, Edmonton could trade for one of Nashville's very good defencemen to put less pressure on Nurse and drop his minu....oh wait, that's what they did.
 
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For what it's worth, Dom Luszczyszyn's model is quite a bit higher on Bouchard than JFresh's is. Elite offensively, average defensively, and has the Oilers getting excellent value from the contract for the next two years....and then it will bite them in the ass.
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Voight said:
Nurse took the Oilers to the cleaners after his bridge deal too
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Nurse got lucky that Chicago idiotically signed Seth Jones to that contract. The second that contract was signed Nurse knew he just cashed in. Thats the risk you take with show me/bridge deals. A bridge deal is the only thing the Oilers can afford with Bouch, will he get lucky like Nurse did?

ChaoticOrange said:
You can say Edmonton isn’t a cup favourite, but they’re absolutely a contender. They aren’t all built the same, and some of them have flaws, but after 109 points last year and only losing out to the Cup champs the last two seasons, they’re definitely contenders.
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Every team has flaws. There are no teams that don't have flaws.
 
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