Stats show Oilers' Nurse isn't living up to contract in the playoffs

Despite the play of most of the Oilers being very strong, one dark spot as always has been the game of Darnell Nurse. Nurse has been a thorn in the side of the Oilers for way too long now, as his terrible play and awful contract always seem to impede any success the Oilers may be looking for. This season he looked to change that around with his performance in game 1, where he showed tons of spirit and had fans thinking he might be able to produce at a normal level. This facade dropped quick however, as in his 5 games since he has been absolutely awful.

This is astounding, as 1 hit in 5 games is terrible over any stretch of hockey, especially during the playoffs where every hit matters. This is no surprise to anyone who's watched the games tho, as Nurse has been awful in all categories since then.

Darnell Nurse isn't meeting expectations for Oilers in playoffs with lack of physicality

Nurse has one point through the whole postseason, which was an assist that came in the Oilers' 6-1 blowout of the Kings. He has 0 other points in 5 games and is an astounding -6, worse than the next worst skater by 2. His effort has been pitiful this year and the issue of his performance just continues to get worse and worse.


It seems that Nurse is never really going to figure it out, and will always continue to be a liability on the d line. He still has 7 years left on this absolute monster contract and could be a massive anchor for years to come, at a cap penalty that the Oilers couldn't even dream of buying out. It's hard to see the Oilers having a successful defense core without Nurse taking a huge step up, which seems to be even more unlikely with every passing year.

In other Oilers news from today's practice, the team has Leon Draisaitl and Adam Henrique out day-to-day with injury. With these two top six forwards potentially out of the lineup or not fully healthy, the rest of the Oilers leadership group will need to step up, especially Darnell Nurse.