It could well be that the experiment with Darnell Nurse playing the right side of the Edmonton Oilers defence will last just one game. That would be unfortunate. That would be a mistake.
We see from today’s line-up at practice that Nurse is now back on his customary left side, paired up with Troy Stecher. Tony Brar of the Oilers reports:
RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Skinner – Henrique – Brown
Janmark – Ryan – Perry
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson
Dermott
Skinner Pickard
Perhaps we’ll not again see Nurse on his off-side. But I hope we do.
There’s some risk in trying him there. Nurse is a left shot who has been a left-side d-man his entire NHL career. It’s also generally accepted that the NHL game is now to ofast to have d-men playing on their off-side.
But from Nurse’s one game on his off-side, playing right defence with Travis Dermott on the left side against Carolina, I think the experiment is worth the risk. In the short term, it might help solve Edmonton’s issues with its defensive pairings. In the long term, it could help Edmonton considerably at the 2025 trade deadline.
Here are the potential benefits:
1. Nurse struggled mightily on the left side at the end of the 2023-24 season and, alarmingly, in the 2024 playoffs. Some of his problems were almost certainly related to him playing with injury. He’s healthier now and looking more solid again on the left side.
But he’s not killing it there yet.
Based on what I saw of him on his right side, he appeared to do just as well in that position. His partner Travis Dermott struggled on a few plays, including on Carolina’s second goal when he was caught flat-footed and out of position at centre ice, but Nurse was generally solid. On his forehand on his off-side, he’s got a better angle to make passes and get off shots, and on his backhand he may well be big enough to use his body to block opponents and puck protect, thus controlling the puck on the boards.
If young Philip Broberg was back in Edmonton he’s now be expected to perform on his off-side, so I don’t think it’s asking too much of a veteran like Nurse to try to do the same, as the overall team might well benefit. Nurse was open to trying out the right side for one game. Why not three or four more? See how it goes? You can call it a sacrifice on his part, but it’s also adventure, an opportunity. Perhaps he can rise to the challenge.
2. Brett Kulak has played strong hockey three playoffs in a row and he’s off to a good start this year. He’s a veteran d-man, a big, fast, positionally sound player who moves the puck smartly and knows how to play it safe. If Nurse moves to the right side, Kulak could well be the ideal partner for him, giving the Oilers both an exceptional top-pairing on defence and a strong second-pairing that can take on major minutes and handle them well.
Yes, losing Kulak will make things more dicey on the third-pairing, but those minutes can be managed. Travis Dermott, Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher look capable of hanging in there in a limited role. And if they can’t, it’s far easier to trade for a third-pairing left shot d-man than it is to trade for a second-pairing right shot d-man.
3. Let’s say Nurse and Kulak prove to be a solid second-pairing. I’ll suggest there’s about a 60 per cent chance that will happen. That would not only solve Edmonton’s problem in the short-term, it would also enhance their trade position at the deadline. No longer would GM Stan Bowman be forced to trade for a right-shot d-man to play with Nurse on the second-pairing. Instead he’d be looking to upgrade the third-pairing, or maybe he’s use Edmonton’s limited cap space and resources to fill some other major holes at forward or in net. That would be huge for Edmonton’s 2024 Stanley Cup hopes.
So, yes, there’s some risk in trying out Nurse on the right side. Maybe it will flop and cost the Oilers a few games. But the upside here is so immense that I can’t see not giving this experiment a run of three or four games, especially if it involves moving up Kulak to the second-pairing.
Kulak and Nurse are big, fast d-men. When they’re on, they are both sound defenders who transition the puck well. In this way, they make for an ideal second-paring. It’s not ideal that they’re both left shots, but perhaps that downside can be mitigated by the overall benefit of playing Nurse on his off-side.
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