This in from commentator Tom Gazzola of Yeg Sports Talk and the NHL Network, news that two critical Edmonton Oilers, Darnell Nurse and Evander Kane, are expected to start out training camp injured.
Said Gazzola: “Hearing that Evander Kane & Darnell Nurse are expected to start training camp on the shelf due to injury… Nurse has been on the ice for informal skates & continues to heal up a lingering injury from the playoffs. The projection is he will be good to go later in camp.”
My take
1. The Edmonton Oilers would have won the Stanley Cup if one or two out of Kane, Nurse or Leon Draisaitl had been fit and firing on all cylinders in the Final against Florida. Instead, each player was some form of shadow of his best self, Draisaitl frustrated and generally unable to break through for big goals, Nurse unbalanced and making a shocking rate of mistakes on Grade A shots and goals against, Kane unable to either punish Florida physically or charge in for dangerous shots on net, as he was able to do earlier in the playoffs against Los Angeles and Vancouver.
2. So far not one of the three has had surgery. Presumably Draisaitl has healed up and is good to go. There’s certainly no need to rush any of them, as this Oilers team is deep and solid, even without promising Philip Broberg to step in for Nurse or aggressive Dylan Holloway around to fill in for Kane and bring some of his skill and physicality. The key isn’t that Nurse or Kane be healthy now, the key is that they are rested and healthy in April when the playoffs start. I’m not sure it was the case last season that they were healthy in April, certainly not with Kane, who had been playing for months with a core injury.
3. The Oilers need Nurse and Kane at their best. Some people are just now so down and negative about Nurse, and even Kane, that they might not be alarmed by these players being out.
But a key plot line for this season is whether ace d-man coach Paul Coffey can bring the most out of Nurse. Every other d-man on the Oilers improved either a little (Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais, Philip Broberg) or a lot (Brett Kulak, Mattias Ekholm and especially Evan Bouchard) after Coffey took over from Dave Manson as d-man coach. The only player who saw his game fall off was Nurse — and his decline was dramatic and alarming, so much so that he became a significant liability in many playoff games. But perhaps some of Nurse’s decline was due to injury That’s often the case with players.
Whatever the case, Nurse has six more years on a deal that pays him $9.25 million per year, a huge cap hit. He doesn’t have to be Bobby Orr out there to earn his money, but he’s got to be Big Bobby Clobber, a tough, nasty physical d-man who can be counted on to shut down top attackers and move the puck smartly. He’s been that kind of players in the past, which is how he earned that hefty contract. It’s critical he now be that player again.
4. As for Kane, he’s got no shortage of detractors in Edmonton — with perceptions of him tainted by highly biased, unfair and negative reporting out of California about his relationship with his previous wife.
The second Kane’s game falls off, many folks are ready to get the knives out. But, as I see it, Edmonton would have been hard pressed to get by Vancouver in the playoffs if not for Kane nullifying the physical threat of gargantuan Vancouver d-man Nikita Zadorov. Until Kane stood up to him, the threatening Zadorov was running Edmonton’s show, as the saying goes.
5. There’s no reason Kane can’t get healthy and provide Edmonton with the scoring and physical punch it will need in the 2025 playoffs, but things will only work out here if Kane takes and is given the time to fully heal up.
Over the summer, there was unsettling scuttlebutt about the team wanting him to have surgery and him wanting to heal on his own time without surgery. It didn’t come across as all happiness and joy but we’ll see how things play out. Kane’s best days as an Oiler could still well be ahead of him.
6. In the short term, Brett Kulak has shown every sign he can step up and play in the Top 4 of an NHL defence. He can fit in well behind Nurse, with Ben Gleason showing signs he can hold his own in the NHL as a third-paring guy. There’s also now Travis Dermott in the mix on the left side.
As for Kane, his absence bring opportunity to Vassily Podkolzin and maybe also to Roby Jarventie, if his own knee injury is healed up, and Raphael Lavoie, who has yet to stick with the Oilers, but gets one final shot just now.
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