This in from Hall- of-Fame NHL d-man Chris Pronger, his analysis that Edmonton Oilers d-man Darnell Nurse is taking part in his most interesting hockey since he’s finally recognized that in some circumstances a lot much less is rather more on the ice, and it’s often greatest to go the puck versus skate it.
Speaking to Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now, Pronger acknowledged the puck relocates quicker than any sort of gamer can, and it’s crucial for NHL d-men to know that.
“(Nurse) was a good enough skater in junior that he could skate his way out of trouble and make another play. At the NHL level, he’s not an elite skater,” Pronger acknowledged.
“When he was in his formative years, you know, he was trying to do a little bit too much. In junior when I scouted him the knock was he was always trying to skate himself out of trouble. And as you know, in the NHL, unless you are an elite skater like Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes, one of these guys, you are not skating yourself out of trouble. You are only going to skate yourself into more trouble.”
Pronger proceeded: “You’re studying on the fly. You take your lumps and you must perceive and study from what’s going to work and how one can simplify the sport.
“(Nurse) was a good enough skater in junior that he could skate his way out of trouble and make another play. At the NHL level, he’s not an elite skater… Ultimately, teams find your weaknesses, and then they prey on them, and they would ultimately start funnelling him into trouble, and get turnovers, and go back the other way, and get quality scoring opportunities and goals. And so you have to learn, you have to gain that experience, make those mistakes, and hopefully understand what those mistakes are, and change your habits, and get out of those habits to be effective. And in his particular case, it’s just keeping the game simple, and using your physical capabilities, and the way that you play the game with grit, and jam, and physicality, and make the simple play, keep it simple, don’t step outside of that skill set and try to do too much, because you want to justify a contract, or you want to justify X, Y, and Z. If you keep your game simple, you’re going to allow your team to be successful.”
My take
1. Pronger acknowledged in particular {and professional} phrases what quite a few Oilers followers and obervers have truly been claiming for a number of years relating to Nurse with enhancing irritation, that a lot much less is rather more with Nurse, that if he’s not operating about on help and on the strike, he’s a much more environment friendly gamer.
This 12 months, Nurse has truly taken that motion within the route of simpleness. When was the final time we noticed him hurry the puck up ice, get hold of channelled to the boards, after that make a weak shot from a pointy angle? Hardly ever earlier than. When was the final time we noticed him invoice out of setting on help to check for the puck, simply to create a 2-on-1? He’s seldom making that blunder.
He’s securing the middle of the ice. He’s passing fast and actual. He’s remaining on the perfect aspect of his test. He’s not making rash difficulties for the puck. He’s signing up with the strike nevertheless normally as the danger male reworking a 3-on-3 proper right into a 4-on-3 so he can launch a dangerous shot.
What does this quantity to? Nurse is having among the many only intervals that we’ve got truly seen from any sort of Oilers d-man this century, presumably contemplating that Pronger’s very personal exceptional 2005-06 interval when he led the group to inside one online game of profitable the Stanley Cup.
2. The Cult of Hockey has truly been doing analysis of all goals for and versus the Oilers contemplating that 2007-08, so we actually didn’t consider Pronger’s fantastic solitary interval with the Oilers as a result of means, nevertheless we’ve got truly finished so for 14 straight years. In all that point after we think about regular Oilers d-men over an entire interval (on the very least 900 additionally toughness minutes performed) no d-man has truly had a significantly better 12 months by the particular goals plus-minus statistics than Darnell Nurse is having this 12 months.
That consists of some exceptional intervals from the similarity Sheldon Souray in 2008-09, Andrej Sekera in 2016-17 and Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm final interval in 2023-24, once they went to the highest of their video video games.
3. At additionally toughness this 12 months, Nurse has truly aided produce 33 goals whereas making important errors on merely 22 versus, for a +0.13 goals per online game plus-minus. That’s the best we’ve got truly seen, significantly better than Denis Grebeshkov’s exceptional 2008-09 interval, +0.11 (previous to damage hit Grebeshkov, he was a terrific NHLer).
Nurse is squashing it, which is much more exceptional considering simply how inadequately he performed within the 2024 playoffs, in big element because of damage, nevertheless likewise since he was nonetheless seen operating about often trying to do extreme proper right here, there and throughout, often roaming approach out of setting. It spent a while for him and d-man teacher Paul Coffey to determine factors out, nevertheless they’ve truly at the moment gotten to that goal. Nurse is taking part in disciplined, smart hockey, making hm the main d-man on the Oilers this 12 months.
4. In the 2010-11 interval, the Cult of Hockey initially started to trace funds and errors on racking up alternatives for and versus theOilers It’s a significantly better means to guage avid gamers than concentrating simply on goals, as racking up alternatives are appreciable dip into the guts of any sort of hockey swimsuit, and there’s a rather more of them than goals, which lets you make much more explicit analyses of reality means of a gamer over a a lot shorter number of video video games, declare 10 or 20 video video games in distinction to 60 or 70 should you’re passing particular goals plus-minus alone.
Nurse’s Grade A photographs plus-minus remained within the commode within the playoffs in 2015. It was surely essentially the most terrible on the group for any sort of Oilers d-man. But he’s at the moment obtained the 2nd best Grade A photographs plus-minus of any sort of d-man on the group.
5. For context proper right here career particular goals plus-minus numbers for Oilers d-men which have truly performed larger than 1500 additionally toughness minutes from 2007-08 to 2024-25, with Mattias Ekholm blazing a path.
At the Cult of Hockey
Player grades in win over Utah
Staples on nationwide politics
