This is the famous “Vollman Sledgehammer” from the 2015-16 season. Edmonton made the playoffs the following season, and you can see some of the main characters (holy hell look at Oscar Klefbom go!) along with rookies (Darnell Nurse, Brandon Davidson, Griffin Reinhart) finding their way. What we know now that we didn’t know from the Vollman Sledgehammer has been filled in by the brilliance of Puck IQ.
Using the Puck IQ Pulverizer, we can say Nurse was playing too much against elites (second most among blue) but held his own (-2.6 DFF%RC), Brandon Davidson played substantial tough minutes and thrived (he really was something else before the injuries) and Griffin Reinhart played more (as a percentage of overall) tough minutes than either but did not have the confidence of the coach (I believe) at any time.
Today, I would like to use the Nurse-Davidson-Reinhart elite minutes from 2015-16 to spark a debate about how much weight we should put on playoff performances.
We talk a lot about small sample sizes being reliable, but every spring, after the playoffs, it seems we put that aside and elevate playoff performance to a death rattle for below average or poor performance.
I’m not saying that’s incorrect, what the hell do I know? What I am saying is that it seems to me that we should consider sample size when making major statements about playoff performances.
You know, early in the playoffs, I noticed that Puck IQ had Nurse’s regular-season numbers without McDavid at five-on-five as 292 minutes, 49.4 DFF percentage, but I haven’t talked about it at all because I wanted to wait for the rage in the cage to ease. The calls for Nurse to be traded (despite an NMC) have continued unabated, so I want to bring this up now (I will write about it as time goes by) in order to frame a specific issue.
How much weight do you put on playoff performance? If that performance is a small sample, do you disregard and go with the eye test? I’m genuinely interested in your response. I think we have to be true to the spirit of the value of large samples delivering more trustworthy results. It’s a variation on ‘single events can have enormous impact while still being single events’ and I do think it’s important. Thanks.
Steve Lansky is live from the Olympics and he’ll be with us on the Lowdown, noon to 2pm today Sports 1440. Tyler Yaremchuk from Daily Faceoff will also be by and we’ll talk Olympics, Oilers, CFL, MLB and more. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly.
New for The Athletic: Who are Connor McDavid’s ‘perfect fit’ Oilers linemates for 2024-25?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5650814/2024/07/26/connor-mcdavid-oilers-lines-2024/
Ekholm-Bouchard is elite – but looking at past years – Nurse-Bouchard was also pretty damn good in limited minutes. Seems to me that Bouchard is everything people want for Nurse’s partner in terms of passing and gap control.
If Nurse has to anchor the 2nd pair – at his salary – and needs to be be sawing off with a dead body at 2RD. If he can’t at least break even at 5×5 without costly help it’s a big damn problem. There will never be enough cap. So it’s Nurse-Bouchard or Nurse needs to be traded so we can replace him with Broberg at 2LD and have cap for a proper solution at 2RD. He’s failed at the Parayko role unfortunately.
If you move Nurse to the top pair then Ekholm can help Broberg on the 2nd pair and I think that might be ok until the trade deadline. Unless Kane starts on the injured list it means one of Ceci or Kulak has to be moved which should not be hard as they are decent players. Ceci for a RH 4C who is good on the PK would be nice – but you pray to god you don’t get serious injuries on RHD.
Nurse and Broberg are better suited to play together.
Ditto for Ekholm and Bouchard.
We knew that Reid Wilkins had left 630 Ched and now we know where he’s popping up – Edmonton Sports Talk with Dusty, Tom and the gang.
I figured maybe 1440 but a coup for the EST crew!
Just a note on X from Jeff Marek today to confirm he is is done at Sportsnet.
Speculation is that “something” happened at the draft and he took a red eye flight back to Toronto after the first round but nobody is talking.
Friedman piped up that he was sorry to see him go but confirmed the 32 Thoughts podcast will return in September.
Celebrini’s mom? 😅
In terms of hard target search, let’s see if we can crowdsource some names. I’m having a hard time.
Looking at players that have expiring contracts that are potential deadline rentals (Adam Larsson). There’s not many out there.
Guys that are in the Jeff Petry mold, playing hard minutes, bad team outside of their window, mid twenties. (Jokiharju)
Really, I’m thinking we’ll need to shop in the emerging player aisle – Jiricek, Rinzel, Maillioux, Morrow (Scott)…
Most of the bad teams just have right-handed d that are cooked like Connor Murphy or Jan Rutta or guys that have impossible contracts like Severson or Parayko)
Need to find one those guys on an ELC that’s nearly NHL ready that a team will part with.
Jordan Spence.
The Kings are the store to shop at for right-handed d. After three playoff series losses to us, I don’t imagine that they want to offer any help.
Maybe if we could get a second round pick from Utah to use in trade, there’s a potential deal. 🙂
Do you think the Kings would even trade Spence? What would a trade look like?
Almost any player is available for the right price.
Spence is an RFA that has not been re-signed so I’m guessing there must be some impediment in negotiations.
Perhaps if the Oilers retained some on Ceci and sent LA Beau Akey they might listen.
Spence played 19% of his TOI vs. elites last season and a total of just over a minute on the PK last season.
Now sure this makes next year’s team better no matter how much a a dementor Ceci is cited to be.
Ryan’s parameters were to find an emerging player coming off an ELC.
Spence is exactly that at the age of 23.
And all of his fancies were solidly in the black.
And lack of PK time is irrelevant without consideration for the other options the coach had at his disposal.
We have the aforementioned, Rasmus Anderson with a reasonable 2x $4.55 contract.
One of the best contracts in hockey IMO.
Might require Matt Savoie and a first.
Not an ELC guy, but more under the radar than Rasmus Andersson. I’m wondering about Will Borgen.
With Montour signing he’s now 3RD in Seattle.
He’s managed to put up some points (~1.0 P/60) at 5v5.
Decent on ice results with <40% Ozone starts.
FWIW lots of minutes against elites this year and solid results.
Big, strong and physical.
Borgan’s a very interesting name!
Big player, mean, expiring $2.7m contract. 27. Uber fast from NHL Edge data. Kills penalties.
Borgen was a guy who came up in my pre-deadline search.
With more competition in SEA, as you mention, he might be more likely to shake loose.
I guess Nemec is unattainable, but he is slotted for 3RD behind Hamilton and Pesce for the next 4 seasons…
Yeah, they’d want a King’s ransom for him. Odd as you point out how he’s blocked on the roster though.
Now do you have faith that our GM, Stan Bowman, who has been out of hockey for 3 years after a piss-poor last 6 years in Chicago, can find and properly secure the right player for us?
You know, you just don’t know what to expect here.
Bowman has made some shockingly poor hockey trades.
Danault and a second for Fleischman and Weis has to be one of the worst trades of all time. The Canadiens selected Romanov with the draft pick too.
Bowman does not sit on his hands, so I don’t expect a playoffs with a Nurse -Ceci pairing.
Hopefully Jackson can prevent him from making stupid trades.
I notice Patrick Laine is now out of the Players Assistance program and Columbus is trying to fulfil his wishes for a trade… Kane + for Laine w/50% retained make any sense for anybody? Assuming Kane is willing to waive his NTC of course.
Or even as part of a biffer play with Kane -Ceci out for Laine and a RD? Anthing there make sense?
Laine doesn’t really score more than Kane, and you lose the edge he has. I wouldn’t do it, and they have enough forwards I think
If you think Kane was suspect in the defensive zone, you’re going to LOVE Laine.
I’m still predicting Kane will be on LTIR for most of the season or longer.
That plus is going to be quite the plus for CBJ to agree to retain over $4M X 2, no?
I don’t think Laine is wired correctly.
Addiction is a disease.
There was something off about him in his pre-draft interviews, and not related to substance use.
The playoffs represent a unique quality of competition puzzle because you’re not just playing against good individual players at specific moments, which is what QoC measures. Instead you’re playing against good and deep teams, which produce more sustained QoC pushes down the line up. It’s harder to shelter players. All to say, yea I do look at playoff performance in particular, but as always it only starts to mean anything after 200 minutes.
Very-well worded distinction!
Years ago, I chatted with G Money about this.
Playoffs are different, and it would reduce sample size, but it would be interesting to look at fancy stats for players filtering out data from non-playoff teams.
https://oilersnerdalert.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/ryans-hope/
Wouldn’t you folks love to be able to look back and compare Nurse’s regular season goal share and expected goals vs playoff and non playoff teams?
Or look at how Warren Foegele’s scoring rates vary by playoff vs nonplayoff teams?
Or look at how teams Fenwick for% and expected goals differ against playoff vs non-playoff teams?
I’ve been wanting this data for a long time, lol.
This would be very useful and would improve our search for players at the deadline. With the right tool you could even create webs showing how players perform against other specific players. I’m sure teams do this, but looking at it nhl wide would help predict playoff matchups.
The OIlers next right D has not yet revealed himself.
There will be months of debate and discussion and trade ideas, ending with.
It was Broberg all along.
This sees to be the best current option but I think, if we are being honest, no matter how much one hates Ceci or loves Broberg or Nurse or whatever, we can all likely agree that the preference is for the young talent establishing himself to be on his natural side as much as possible and the organization seems to agree given his usage in Bakersfield last season.
Circumstances forced the Coffey and the org to use Broberg on the right side, and those circumstances likely still exist, however, I don’t think the org’s ideal plan moving forward.
It would be something if Nurse Bro overcame their stats. History tells us it’s not likely
Looking at the last 9 games of the playoffs, the D needs to be built differently outside of Ek Bouch, brutal stats
I’m sure, at camp, all eyes will be on Wanner (closest to ready?) and Akey (unsure of readiness)… 2 future RD for sure, timing and development will mean everything.
Pretty sure nobody is expecting either to be ready for the NHL this year.
Wanner will need another full season in the AHL, at least. A cup of coffee would be a surprise.
Akey lost almost the entire season last year to a shoulder injury. So he’s likely a year or more behind schedule. Probably three years to go for him.
Akey will assuredly be heading back to junior and the talk on Wanner is another year at least – which rings true.
For me it’s simple replace Ceci with a stay at home puck transporter. Nurse needs to join the rush more often and I’m positive Coffey will have Nurse being the open man on the rush down broadway. Nurse should also have countless 2-1 and 3-2. Nurse is a gifted offensive weapon if greenlighted and used properly. The Oilers have the most gifted forward group since the mid Eighties which should allow our D more open looks with Nurse leading the way.
I’m trying to picture a stay at home puck mover. Who did you have in mind?
Drew Doughty would be an amazing add.
Which vintage?
Saying current Doughty has lost a step is being kind.
And that’s saying nothing of his contract.
Isn’t Cody Ceci a stay at home puck mover?
I like Ceci with his contract being fair value the abuse he takes is over the top. Cody is a gamer he scored a huge goal in game 7 against the Canucks and that pass to Janmark was special. In saying that Ceci needs to go it comes down to Nurse. Coffey needs to have a plan for Nurses deployment and identify a partner that mixes with him. Bear and Nurse had a good run something along those lines. There’s journeymen that can be had for Ceci money or less it’s finding the right mix for how you want to deploy Nurse.
With Bowman at the helm, a number of .possibilities come into view.
i hate to use Chiarelli as a comparison, but Bowman has a bit of that Chiarelli mindset when it comes to hockey trades.
He isn’t afraid to give up massive future value to make a trade whether that’s adding Teuvo Teravainen to dump Brian Bickel’s last year of his contract or Danault for depth pieces.
O’Reilly, Savoie, Akey, Broberg, are all potential trade pieces now in the name of expediency.
For 2RD, who is our Antoine Vermette?
For better or worse, Bowman isn’t going to stare at that hole at 2RD for three years like Ken Holland.
Ironically, Bowman did draft Jokiharju.
Yeah, Bowman’s trade history is frightening. Chicago bled talent for years.
I’m just hoping he’s JJ’s sock puppet.
And then traded him for Alexander Nylander.
I read up on Henry, and what came up was that he is slow, gets walked. He’s had lower body issues, maybe it’ll improve
Jokiharju is not a burner. He’s had a lot of lower body injuries. He carries sn injury risk, in general.
Let’s be clear, Jokiharju is not Cale Makar.
What he is … is a right-handed d, with a $3.1m cap, comparatively low acquisition cost, who’s capable of playing top-four minutes that can make a good first pass.
His speed does worry me as he might be a little too slow like bear was.
The trouble here, is when you’re shopping in the top r4 rd aisle, for a right-handed player with a good first pass and plus speed who can defend well, the acquisition cost and cap hit, both will be monumental.
Sounds like Cody Ceci…..
Give me Radko. Even if he played in sneakers nobody wants to go into his corner
Bieksa superman punched him on the button, ‘ I didn’t want that guy hitting me’
Need more players teams don’t want to play against
The chart you want is OZS %on the abcissa and GF% on the ordinate.
I don’t think QOC matters so much in Nurse’s case, and certainly chopping it up affects sample size.
Nurse Playoffs 5v5
2022: 54 OZS% 54 GF%
2023: 49 OZS% 48 GF%
2024: 41 OZs% 36 GF%
Nurses zone starts track with his GF%. He’s a strange bird of a defender. He’s basically a scoring defender who doesn’t move the puck up the ice very well. He needs to play with puck transporters on the regular and or start in the offensive zone.
Bouchard should be getting the D zone starts, because he can move the puck.
But during the playoffs, Knoblauch exacerbated the deployment. He deployed Bouchard to score and Nurse to transport. It will never work for Nurse that way. (Yes, I know they are on opposite sides). I don’t know if switching Ekholm and Nurse is the solution.
Conservative coaches deploy to shelter, not to score. Nurse requires shelter.
I don’t understand the conversation on sample sizes. There’s nothing small about the Oilers playoff sample.
if you’re looking to predict future seasons or future playoffs based on sample size, there is no sample big enough to do that in hockey. Simply put, the past doesn’t predict the future. If someone tells you an 82 game sample predicts next season better than a 20 game sample in the playoffs, using public analytics that’s a lie. Sorry, no other words for it.
All we are left with is conjecture. And I conject that the solution to the Nurse problem is to break up the 5 man unit, and start Nurse with the first line in the OZ.
You have had some great Nurse posts this offseason. Thanks.
It changes a bit if you look at the 9 games with Bro his most common partner to end the playoffs
5v5
66:23 50 OZS% 66.67 GF%
His next most common partner was Kulak 32:10 and they had 25 OZS% and bad numbers across the board, but were 0-1 in goals which isn’t too bad given usage
Nurse Bro did well in goal share, but not in anything else. Coffey was probably sheltering Bro, he did it with Nurse Des as well but they only had 4:16 together
What I take from this is that Nurse can’t carry partners with issues. Bro’s skating allows him to gap better and retrieve well with enough time to move the puck to a good place. But with Kulak most of the other underlying stats were better. Bro and Kulak are more rounded players than Ceci and Des. Looks like the coaches saw Nurse is better with a player that skates well and can pass
Ceci and Des can’t do that consistently and it sinks Nurse. I don’t think they can play at a high enough tempo either, and the deeper the playoffs go it catches up to them
Remember when Eberle got run out of town based on one playoffs? Then he ended up being a solid playoff performer for the rest of his career?
Yeah.
Saw this first on OilersNation but Carter Savoie is heading to Finland on a one-year deal. His goal is to play in the NHL and figures this is the current best route. He was offered an AHL contract for Bakersfield but I guess figured he’d have a more prominent role and ability to produce in Liiga?
https://hc-tps-fi.translate.goog/savoie-oden-tps-paitaan/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Obviously Nurse was injured during the playoffs, I don’t think he disclosed his injury. His physicality was mostly nonexistent. We shall see if this level in the playoffs is a norm or was an injury.
Was he?
Yeah I don’t know how obvious. Not like his hip in the COL series or anything. To me he looked to be having a crisis of confidence, just always a little out to sea.
A seemingly inconsequential collision resulting in him essentially missing an entire playoff game (played 3 minutes). Do you see an injury severe enough to have him miss a playoff game and then be 100% for the next game 2 days later?
I don’t think there is much real doubt that he was injured to some extent.
Remember when the reporters were all over Nurse against Dallas basically questioning his manhood. We’ll he came out and had one hell of a game squashing the peanut gallery for a few games. This is a tell for me that he was injured and was running on pure octane and this was not substantial. When you fall off a cliff you sure as hell don’t look like prime Chris Ponger for a game or two.
IMO the only thing that was hurt was Nurse’s pride.
Either way, it will be hard to win a Cup if some of the best players can’t stay healthy enough to contribute enough. I’m thinking Nurse and Drai. It’s been a couple of years now. We’re going to have both long term probably, I hope they don’t end up being like Bergeron, always too hurt in the playoffs and not able to play at their normal level
Of course they will be hurt in the playoffs. That’s a given
playoff sample sizes are small, but competition is tougher
Of course the ability to perform in the playoffs is important.
I think we are all thrilled that the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl have proven the ability to not just perform in the playoffs but even produce at higher levels than in the regular season – historic all time great production.
At the same time, I think the premise “he can’t perform in the playoffs” is often over-stated and, in many examples, its only true until its not true.
Remember when Eberle couldn’t perform in the playoffs? Well that was only true until, well, he did perform in the playoffs.
Remember when Pavel Datsyuk couldn’t perform in the playoffs? That was for multiple playoffs and then, all of a sudden, boom playoff performer.
Darnell Nurse was not good in the playoffs but I think we know there was injury (aggravated late when he played 3 minutes in a playoff game) and I think we can all agree that his level of play was severely below established and historical norms.
I’m quite confident that Darnell Nurse will play better this coming season than he did down the stretch and in the playoffs. This is based on his career history.
At the same time, to this point, Nurse has not really ever “elevated” in the playoffs – during the last few years injury in the spring has been a big part of that.
This is why it’s wise to rotate D-men down the stretch and let in season injuries heal. Nurse didn’t suddenly fall off a cliff he’s been running on fumes the last two playoffs.
The acquisition of Ekholm was supposed to help in that area.
I was calling for Broberg to get the recall we knew was coming weeks, of not a month, before he did.
I still do not understand why they waited so long – it was not cap related.
Wonder if it was for scouting purposes? Kind of a way to have a secret weapon to deploy in the playoffs?
Also struggling to understand why they didn’t insert Broberg (much) earlier than they did.
Last season was not a great scenario for that, due to the horrific start the team was in an all habds on deck mode for most of it, in order to carch up. I would think that had an effect on the willingness to rotate in lower in the pecking order players as much as would be normally expected.
I agree for much of the season but the Oilers were so damn good during the middle of the season, they recovered quickly and were in a very solid position down the stretch – there was quite a bit of time to manage some loads and get Broberg some reps in for a good month plus, in my opinion.
Every player goes into the playoffs with the same skills they possess in the regular season. It is the level of competition and certainly the level of intensity that increases dramatically.
Those that are less skilled but high intensity can prevail.
I think playoff performance should be heavily weighted. It is the ability to gain possession and apply your skills. The little bit of extra effort it takes to beat the other guy.
How does this apply to nurse? I really dont know. Hes a strange duck. All indications as he developed were that he would be a major playoff performer.
There was a day Godot described Nurse as having “unshakable confidence” and he really did. Looks to still have it. Maybe a crack formed?
I don’t think we can know until (if?) they get him a partner that helps him. He hasn’t had one in a long time. He also isn’t a high hockey IQ player – more of a physical skills type – so I think that after three playoffs having struggles after decent regular seasons he’s shaken. And he is one who seems to get injured in playoffs to the point his play is diminished
Other people have surrounded what he needs. Puck moving D that can hold the blue lines gap tighter and isn’t a D zone liability. Basically a more rounded player than Ceci or Des, doesn’t need to be high offense
I’m not sure when or if that might happen, but I did like that Bowman mentioned that he thinks you have to be creative in where you are looking for players that can help. I had commented a few weeks ago pondering is there no RD anywhere in the world not in the NHL that is better than Ceci? If there aren’t any NHL options right now? So that way of thinking is up my alley
Is it safe to say Nurse struggles in the playoffs? Maybe because of players raising their level of competition, exposing Nurse’s flaws and taking advantage. This makes it difficult if he is paired with Bouchard even if he has made strides defensively, although while being paired with Ekholm. It’s tough to break up Ekholm & Bouchard. For me the only way to go is with Broberg on his off-side, unless they acquire the perfect righthand defenseman to compliment Nurse. Who knows? Maybe it’s Stecher or Brown? Never the less, it’s perplexing that at this stage of his career finding a partner for Nurse is a thing.
Bouchard is a plus defensive player and his numbers sustain when away from both Ekholm and McDavid.
You can talk about trading Nurse all you want. You can’t trade him. Even if you retain 50% which is about what you’d have to do, he still has a NMC.
LT: curious what Nurse’s puck IQ playoff numbers look like if we include the past few seasons, and if it (1) how much it allays concerns about sample size and (2) how much of a different picture it paints. Obviously there will be noise (differences in deployment, partners) but we have to work with the data we have to suss out whether running a 2nd pairing with Nurse as the better/more established option is a good bet. Personally I feel that he can’t be the primary puck mover or defensive anchor on the 2nd pairing (which is concerning seeing as how those are the two most important functions the oilers need) and while a regression to the mean after a disastrous playoffs is expected, I don’t know if his mean is good enough to hack it as the anchor of a good second pairing on a playoff team.
I understand management giving Broberg an audition as the 2 RD in the early part of the season, but him emerging as a clear, good-to-great 2nd pairing D next year seems less likely than not. Not as bad of a bet as penciling Paajarvi in for 2L minutes after a 34 pt rookie season, but it’s still a lot to expect from a 23 year old with 101 games under his belt.
I know there isn’t a $2M Colton Parayko just lying around we can pick up, but I do hope that in season the oilers are willing to move Ceci and other assets for better RH option like your man-crush Carrier. $3.25M on a good 3 RD/ average 2D is a luxury the oilers can’t really afford with all their dead cap. The drop off from Kulak-Ceci to Kulak-Stetcher isn’t that bad …
Puck IQ doesn’t run the postseason totals, I imagine partly due to what we’re talking about. And of course, the qual comp is more severe.
My next item is going to be about finding the 2M Parayko fyi.
I do value playoff performance a little bit more than the “traditional” small sample size for analysis. The reason being that in a 4-7 game series, the opposing coaches are better prepared to shine a light on the player’s (Nurse for example) weaknesses and coach their players to capitalize on them. As the games of the series roll by, Nurse (again, just an example) needs to be able to adjust and elevate his game to counteract the opponnent’s tactics.
The playoffs are different from a 6 game east coast trip in January because of the familiarity the opponent gains in a playoff series, so I do value it higher because that’s the sample that matters the most if you have cup aspirations.
I think this factors in a big way. The game rules change when it counts.
-Perimeter players dissapear in playoffs
-Tactics exposing weakest links get more focused
I wish there was a tool to sort offensive zone entries in a bit more detail. Pull stuff like which side controlled entries drive towards and which corner dumps sent for retrieval for different players on ice.
Show who opposing coaches focused on as weakest.
I see nurse as a 7.5 million dollar defenceman. Asset mismanagement amd short term thinking are causes of inflstion to over 9 million. They waited abd waited to set new deal until they painted themselves into brutal corner. Im not holding that against nurse. We wouldn’t be at point ufa’s like skinner and henrique are takimg less than market value to play for a chance at stanley without him IMO.
So, nurse is not even close to my biggest problem on just cap cost alone.
My second issue is a complete change is usage to shutdown defender without a atrong partner and now with lower quality forward sets since contract signed.
Our pk is solid. Nurse is a big part of that. So he can defend quite solid. Proof in that pretty positive. The problem occurs in 5×5 transition and i believe there’s 2 options that might revert his numbers to much better.
1. A strong outlet passing partner with at least average puck carrying/defensive positioning/puck retrieval skills
2. An actual shutdown defender with strong puck retrieval/defensive positioning skills and at least average outlet passing/puck carrying skills.
Ceci is average or slightly below average at all these things outside maybe defensive positioning (pk1 on good rated pk team). The epitome of vanilla. Solid 6/7 defender at this point in his career. Vet that can fill adequately higher in lineup if injuries require.
Stats for the playoffs are a small sample and therefore could be misleading
But pro sports is a performance, like acting. It really matters what you are able to do when the stress and moment are biggest. It’s the whole point of it
We see over several playoffs Kulak step his game up in playoffs. Last playoffs Janmark was hurt, this one he was one of the best forwards
We also see some players whose play drops off – Nurse, Ceci, McLeod etc. Some who are hurt each post season. I hope under a full season KK has them working to be their best in the post season in every way, and Jackson Bowman continue to tweak the roster so it’s better
Kulak play began declining the longer he played with Ceci, and made the blunder on the final season ending goal.
Get rid of the dementor. The other players will be fine.
Kulak’s numbers were every bit as bad as Nurse’s this playoffs though.
I’ve always said Nurse is a good defenceman. Overpaid for sure but that’s not his fault. I’m not on board with shooting him into the sun. With the right partner he’s a very good second pairing defenceman. He didn’t forget how to play hockey this year. I’m not smart enough to know who that partner is but I do know it’s not Ceci. Come on Stan get him a partner.
If Nurse is on the team – I’d be very tempted to try him and Bouchard on the top pair with Ekholm-Bouchard on the 2nd pair. That said – a LHD of Ekholm-Broberg-Kulak is plenty good – and that cap space is needed on the right side. Interested to hear what you have to say in Pt 2.
Nurse Bouch ‘should’ be a good pair. I think that both get vapour lock is what sinks them
This is a horrible idea. It has been (and will be a disaster) every time it has been tried.
That’s what I’m saying, not proposing it
746 minutes over three seasons, expected goals of 58%.
If you choose to rely on goals and discount expected goals then you cannot propagate Broberg as Nurse’s partner.
I think the playoff numbers for a deep
run are important. You can evaluate how a player performs against the leagues best.
I agree LT, if the sample size is small, it is best to tread carefully in player evaluation.
That is not the case with Nurse. There are now three deep playoff runs to look at. Even this year, Nurse played almost 400 minutes in the playoffs. That is a decent sample size to evaluate. By almost every metric, he really struggled this spring.
With Nurse, it is important to remember who his most common linemates are. Ryan and daniel have both made excellent posts that show Knobby/Coffey fed Nurse to the wolves and he did not thrive in that role. He clearly needs an upgraded partner and the second forward line also needs (largely complete now) upgrades.
Comparing regular season numbers to playoff numbers is apples to oranges.
It’s not the same game, at all.
If you insist on these comparisons, what it shows is that Nurse is unable to elevate his game when it matters most… or at all.
The Ancient Mariner (The Edmonton Oilers) simply have to accept this $9.25 million dollar albatross around its neck.
But you didn’t even talk about RH blue 😉
There’s a part 2!
Hehe, yes I assumed that!