We just fundamentally disagree on the level Nurse's game was at prior to the second half of this season. To me, this is prime Nurse:
These are all seasons where he played on the Oilers number one pairing, with defensive partners that are arguably not even top four defenceman (depends how you feel about Ceci and Barrie, but Bear and Barrie might not even be in the league next year). In 22-23 those offensive numbers are nearly all even strength too.
I look at these numbers and his advanced stats, and he looks like a clear cut top pairing defenceman on just about any team. You see an average second pairing D. We won't agree on Nurse lol.
And I'm not a Nurse apologist either (at least I don't think I am). His contract sucks. He is prone to making some dumb decisions, and his pairing has been horrible at times in two consecutive playoff runs. He's not good at controlling his skates when the puck is in dangerous areas (particularly in front of the net). But he's been a really good Oiler for a number of years imo.
I'm not saying you or anyone who agrees with you is being irrational, but this conversation reminds me of conversations I have with people about Bouchard. I have multiple older dudes in my circle that just hate Bouchard, regardless of how well he's playing. He could score 100 points and these guys would still trade him for a bag of pucks, because they can't see past his mistakes and perceived laziness. I think Nurse is similarly polarizing.