Does Darnell Nurse receive too much hate?
The Edmonton Oilers are coming off an impressive 6-2 win against the New York Rangers last night, but Darnell Nurse was an instrumental part of the win.
During last Saturday's matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Darnell Nurse was on the receiving end of disgusting head shot by Ryan Reaves, resulting in the Oilers blue-liner to miss 3 games.
During Darnell's absence, the team scraped together a 1-2 record, losing to the Montreal Canadiens and the Minnesota Wild.
-Kurt Leavins
These reports from Kurt Leavins emphasize just how valuable Darnell Nurse is to the Edmonton Oilers, which begs the question -- does Darnell Nurse get too much hate?
According to Puckpedia, Darnell Nurse is signed to a 8 year, $74,000,000 contract with a cap hit of $9,250,000 per season. His contract was signed on August 6, 2021, and expires at the end of the 2029-30 season, when Nurse will be 35 years old.
The aspect of Nurse's game that upsets fans the most is the general belief that he doesn't live up to the expectations of his contract.
While that could be true, the team seems to perform at a higher level when he's in the lineup.
Darnell Nurse has an elite performance last night for the Oilers, scoring an impressive short-handed goal and posting 4 shots on net.
To make matters even sweeter, Nurse's short goal marked the 6th shorthanded tally of his career, ranked second in Oilers history behind assistant coach Paul Coffey
Furthermore, Nurse has tallied 10 points in 19 regular season games this season, posting a +2 rating on the ice.
So far, Darnell Nurse has been having an impressive start to the season. Although he may not be a fan favourite in Edmonton, his teammates seem thrilled to have him back in the lineup -- and their performance is indicative of that.
