Darnell Nurse answers what roster changes Oilers need to win the Stanley Cup
Photo credit: Bob Frid - USA Today Sports
Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse was happy to see this offseason go by without any major changes to the roster.
Edmonton did see some turnover with forwards, but still retained all of their core players. The defence and goaltending remain almost identical as well, which Nurse believes is the best thing.
Darnell Nurse believes this group of Oilers should be kept together to win
Speaking in a new interview with Sportsnet, Darnell Nurse said he believes this group of Oilers can get the job done and deliver a Stanley Cup - and any major changes could threaten that.
You've got to be careful on change. When you're a team coming up, you would lose in the first round and the message would be, 'Just stick with it. It's going to come.' Now, we've been in two Stanley Cup Finals and it feels like, the closer you get, the more everything feels like it needs to change.
It doesn't. We've got to keep knocking at the door and give ourselves the opportunity. For the guys that have been through the experiences, we have to lean on those experiences.
- Darnell Nurse
It doesn't. We've got to keep knocking at the door and give ourselves the opportunity. For the guys that have been through the experiences, we have to lean on those experiences.
- Darnell Nurse
The core group of these Oilers do have the playoff experience and ability to win the Stanley Cup now, and drawing from those experiences will be a valuable asset this season. Especially on defence, the consistency of pairings helps each player with familiarity, and helps the whole team.
However, there shouldn't be such a resistance to major changes in pursuit of winning the Stanley Cup. The Oilers' only position of weakness is goaltending, and if Skinner doesn't show an improvement this season, an upgrade at the deadline will be far overdue.
Hopefully these Oilers can use their experience of the playoffs to finally change the result, and bring the Cup home to Edmonton.
