The Edmonton Oilers are absolutely flying these days, and they have defenceman Darnell Nurse to thank for it.
Darnell Nurse is regarding as a polarizing figure in the city of Edmonton.
Over the past few seasons, Darnell Nurse has been in the hot-seat, with much of the conversation surrounding his monstrous $9.3 million dollar contract.
Despite all the talk, Oilers fans are witnessing a completely transformed Darnell Nurse this season.
Darnell Nurse played key role in last night's victory
According to David Staples, Nurse continued his strong play with another sound game.
He drew a penalty in the early going. Made a superb defensive stop to overtake Mitchell Chaffee in open ice, rub him out of the play and skate away with the puck.
Started the play on McDavid's goal deep in his own territory. Made a great stretch pass to send Draisaitl in alone, leading to the winning goal, although it was officially deemed unassisted.
Fired 3 shots of his own including a terrific one-timer through traffic that forced an excellent save. Did just enough in the controversial sequence in the dying seconds
Notably, Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has made some subtle coaching adjustments that have seemed to pay off.
Koblauch has been frequently putting Darnell Nurse on the ice with Leon Draisaitl.
Nurse's redeployment on the ice has directly resulted into more offensive, and the pair seem to have developed some newfound chemistry, especially when looking at breakout and transition play.
Nurse's new role on the ice had directly led to increased offensive contributions, and the new pairing has developed strong chemistry, particularly in breakout and transition plays.
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
As it stands, Darnell Nurse is finally living up to his contract, earning the respect of of the fans base.
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DECEMBRE 11 | 162 ANSWERS
Darnell Nurse is finally living up to his contract
Do you think Darnell Nurse had been living up his contract this season?