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Darnell Nurse

Edmonton Oilers Rank Last In Salary Cap Rankings

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Daily Faceoff has ranked the Edmonton Oilers last in salary cap efficiency. This comes as no surprise after the website began its annual salary cap rankings list and after a deep dive into the numbers determined that there isn’t a team in a worse situation financially than the Oilers. It isn’t a shock given the Oilers current salary cap woes. The team finds itself with just 21 players on the roster and only $382,499 in cap space. Though finishing dead last on the list is new, Edmonton ranked second last in last year’s version of the list.

Daily Faceoff’s ranking system looks at no-move clauses, dead cap space, the quality of long-term contracts, bargain contracts, and the good deals versus the bad ones. Unfortunately, based on those criteria, it is easy to see why the Oilers find themselves at the bottom of that list. Edmonton has several problematic contracts on their books, and while they have some bargains like Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The bad deals outweigh the great ones.

Darnell Nurse is a really good defenseman; he eats a ton of minutes for the Oilers and plays a lot of tough situations. However, he does suffer a lot of mental lapses, and at $9.25 million a season, he just doesn’t bring the offensive upside you would like to see in a defenseman making that kind of money. Nurse is also likely to wear down as the miles pile up on his body. Those difficult minutes require that he play with a ton of physicality. It could take its toll on the 28-year-old when he gets on the wrong side of 30.

Some of the other bad contracts on the Oilers are goaltender Jack Campbell at $5MM per season as well as third-line winger Warren Foegele and third-pairing defenceman Brett Kulak at $2.75 million each. The contracts come in addition to the nearly $2MM per year the Oilers are still paying on the James Neal buyout.

On the surface, these contracts don’t look like outrageous overpayments because all the players listed above are still functional NHLers. However, in the flat cap era Campbell, Foegele, and Kulak are all replacement-level NHLers who could have been replaced by other players on contracts of less than $1MM per season. Couple that with the mishandling of Nurse’s previous bridge deals and it all amounts to around $10MM in inefficient salary cap spending that could lead to big problems for the Oilers down the road when they need to offer extensions to McDavid, Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard.

2023 NHL Awards Winners

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2023 The NHL Awards were given out tonight in Nashville. The ceremony kicks off what should be a busy week as teams continue to prepare for the NHL Entry Draft and free agency, which begins on July 1st.

Here is the full list of winners, with the top two runners-up in each category:

Calder Trophy – Top Rookie

Winner: Matthew Beniers (Kraken)

Runners-Up: Owen Power (Sabres), Stuart Skinner (Oilers)

Voting Results

Norris Trophy – Top Defenseman

Winner: Erik Karlsson (Sharks)

Runners-Up: Adam Fox (Rangers), Cale Makar (Avalanche)

Voting Results

Ted Lindsay Award – Most Outstanding Player (as voted by the players)

Winner: Connor McDavid (Oilers)

Runners-Up: Erik Karlsson (Sharks), David Pastrnak (Bruins)

Lady Byng Trophy – Most Gentlemanly Player

Winner: Anze Kopitar (Kings)

Runners-Up: Jack Hughes (Devils), Brayden Point (Lightning)

Voting Results

Hart Trophy – Most Valuable Player

Winner: Connor McDavid (Oilers)

Runners-Up: David Pastrnak (Bruins), Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers)

Voting Results

Vezina Trophy – Goaltender Of The Year

Winner: Linus Ullmark (Bruins)

Runner-Ups: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets), Ilya Sorokin (Islanders)

Voting Results

Selke Trophy – Best Defensive Forward

Winner: Patrice Bergeron (Bruins)

Runners-Up: Mitchell Marner (Maple Leafs), Nico Hischier (Devils)

Voting Results

Jack Adams Award – Coach Of The Year

Winner: Jim Montgomery (Bruins)

Runners-Up: Dave Hakstol (Kraken), Lindy Ruff (Devils)

Voting Results

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy – Perseverance, Sportsmanship, and Dedication

Winner: Kris Letang (Penguins)

Runners-Up: Clayton Keller (Coyotes), Alex Stalock (Blackhawks)

King Clancy Memorial Trophy – Humanitarian

Winner: Mikael Backlund (Flames)

Runners-Up: Anders Lee (Islanders), Darnell Nurse (Oilers)

Mark Messier Leadership Award

Winner: Steven Stamkos (Lightning)

E.J. McGuire Award – Prospect Commitment to Excellence

Winner: Connor Bedard (Regina Pats, WHL)

 

Congratulations to all the winners and the nominees.

NHL Announces 2023 King Clancy Trophy Finalists

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In just under three weeks from today, the 2023 NHL Awards show will take place at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators. Most of the award finalists have been announced up to this point, however; there are still some to get through.

This afternoon, the NHL announced the three finalists for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually awarded to the player that “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community“. This season, the three finalists will be Mikael Backlund (Calgary Flames), Anders Lee (New York Islanders), and Darnell Nurse (Edmonton Oilers).

As in the description, this award is heavily weighted in humanitarian work off the ice, and these three players have no shortage of that. In Backlund’s case, he and his wife have raised over $400K for the ALS Society of Alberta, a disease that his wife’s mother passed away from. Aside from that, Backlund has also been heavily involved with The Kids Cancer Care, Special Olympics Calgary, and Parachutes for Pets.

For Lee, the current captain of the Islanders, the veteran forward has become involved with a non-profit called “Jam Kancer in the Kan”, which is dedicated to helping families and children dealing with cancer. Since Lee’s involvement, the company has raised well over $2MM for families dealing with the disease. Additionally, Lee has been helping college students with academic scholarships over the last several years.

Nurse’s involvement with the community has been primarily focused on diversity and inclusion in athletics. Working for “Free Play for Kids”, Nurse has helped underprivileged communities in Canada gain access to sports in a safe and accessible way. Nurse also has a scholarship of his own, setting up the Excellence Scholarship in 2021, which is given to two students pursuing post-secondary education, annually.

Regardless of who wins this award, these three players, among others, have helped their communities in pretty incredible ways. The winner will receive a $25K donation to a charity of their choice, while the other two finalists will receive a $5K donation each.

Darnell Nurse Suspended For One Game

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The NHL Department of Player Safety announced they’ve upheld the automatic one-game suspension against Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of regulation time, holding him out of a pivotal Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Head coach Jay Woodcroft was also fined $10,000 as a result of the incident in last night’s Game 4 win.

The automatic suspension holds Nurse, Edmonton’s leader in average time on ice among defensemen, out of Edmonton’s most important game this season to date, with their Second Round series locked in at two games apiece against Vegas.

The incident in question occurred with 50 seconds remaining in Edmonton’s 4-1 Game 4 win, with officials determining Nurse instigated a fight with Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague. With play still going on, Nurse pinched in from the hash marks to fight Hague, who was stationed in a puck battle behind the Vegas net.

It means youngster Philip Broberg, who’s averaged under seven minutes of ice time per game throughout the playoffs, will draw back into the lineup with increased responsibility. The 21-year-old has yet to record a point this postseason but does lead Oiler defenders with a +3 rating. Mattias Ekholm, who’s been paired with youngster Evan Bouchard since joining the team at the trade deadline, could elevate to the top pairing alongside Cody Ceci.

NHL Announces 2023 King Clancy Memorial Trophy Nominees

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In an announcement made Tuesday afternoon, the NHL unveiled the list of nominees for the 2023 King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is presented annually to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities both on and off the ice, as well as making a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to their community.

The list of nominees for this year’s award is an impressive one, featuring some of the league’s most well-respected captains, such as Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and Florida’s Aleksander Barkov.

One notable nominee is one of the youngest captains in the league – Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk, in a few short years as a Senator, has already implanted himself in the community, especially in recent seasons. Working with the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, Tkachuk hosts the ’Tkachuk’s Captains’ program, which works with kids at club locations across Ottawa to help develop leadership skills.

That’s not to diminish the off-ice efforts of anyone else named on the full list of nominees, found below. While an often-overlooked award, it’s a great way to highlight some players who focus on making positive contributions to their communities.

Anaheim: Kevin Shattenkirk
Arizona: Travis Boyd
Boston: Patrice Bergeron
Buffalo: Alex Tuch
Calgary: Mikael Backlund
Carolina: Jordan Staal
Chicago: Connor Murphy
Colorado: Devon Toews
Columbus: Zach Werenski
Dallas: Jason Robertson
Detroit: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton: Darnell Nurse
Florida: Aleksander Barkov
Los Angeles: Mikey Anderson
Minnesota: Matt Dumba
Montreal: Jordan Harris
Nashville: Juuse Saros
New Jersey: Jack Hughes
NY Islanders: Anders Lee
NY Rangers: Jacob Trouba
Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin
San Jose: Luke Kunin
Seattle: Chris Driedger
St. Louis: Brayden Schenn
Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman
Toronto: Morgan Rielly
Vancouver: Elias Pettersson
Vegas: Reilly Smith
Washington: Tom Wilson
Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler

Snapshots: Nurse, Hischier, Zherdev

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The NHL Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine to Darnell Nurse for his hit on Kyle Burroughs last night. At the very end of the first period between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, Evander Kane delivered a hit to Burroughs in the corner of the rink as he played the puck. A moment later, Nurse delivered a second hit on the Canucks defenseman as time expired.

Nurse was given a two-minute minor penalty on the play but will also lose a few dollars for the play. While it doesn’t seem like much, relative to the salary that the Oilers’ defenseman makes, this fine will be added to Nurse’s disciplinary record, meaning he could face stiffer penalties in the future. For now, the Oilers will be glad he didn’t face a suspension for the hit.

  • Nico Hischier won’t be in the New Jersey Devils’ lineup tonight, as he’s still not ready to return, according to team reporter Amanda Stein. The young forward was at practice between Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt but will miss at least the opener. The Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers tonight and then go home to welcome in the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, where Hischier might be able to debut.
  • Remember Nikolai Zherdev? The fourth-overall pick in 2003 that burst onto the NHL scene and was gone before you knew it? Well, he’s still playing pro hockey overseas, or at least he was until he was released by Yunost Minsk in the Belarusian league today. The 37-year-old has bounced around the last few years after a long stint in the KHL, and will now have to find a new place to ply his trade.

Snapshots: Oilers, Edvinsson, Merilainen, Fitzgerald

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It appears as if the Oilers will have two of their star performers available for training camp as head coach Jay Woodcroft told 630 CHED (audio link) that both defenseman Darnell Nurse and center Leon Draisaitl are expected to be ready when team activities open up next month.  Nurse played through the playoffs with a torn hip flexor and while it was speculated at the time that he would need surgery, that wound up not being the case.  As for Draisaitl, he suffered what appeared to be a leg injury in the final game of the first round but still managed to go on a tear offensively in their last two rounds, putting up 23 points in just nine games.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • After missing Monday’s preliminary round game at the World Juniors, Sweden head coach Tomas Monten told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale (Twitter link) that blueliner Simon Edvinsson is expected to play in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup against Latvia. The Red Wings prospect didn’t suit up last game due to an illness.  Edvinsson has a goal and an assist in three games so far while averaging a team-high 22:13 per contest.
  • Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen has decided to play in Finland this season over returning to Kingston of the OHL, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 20-year-old was a third-round pick in 2020 and played in 53 games with the Frontenacs last season, posting a 3.29 GAA and a .891 SV%.  However, he’s expected to get an opportunity to compete for the starting job with Karpat in Finland’s top division and Ottawa is in agreement that the opportunity to battle for that spot is what’s best for his development.
  • After spending the last two seasons with Philadelphia on an NHL two-way deal, the Flyers have brought back forward Ryan Fitzgerald on a minor league contract, per a team release from their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley. The 27-year-old was limited to just four games last season after undergoing surgery on both hips back in September.  The year before, he picked up 21 points in 28 games and a return to that level of performance could help secure him another NHL deal next summer.

Oilers Notes: Nurse, Goaltending, Puljujarvi

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The Edmonton Oilers were obviously dealing with several key injuries by the time they were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche, including limiting issues for Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl. When speaking with the media today in his end-of-year press conference, general manager Ken Holland announced that none of the injured players are expected to need surgery at this point.

That’s huge news for a team that obviously has its sights set on contending for the Stanley Cup again next season. As we’ve seen around the league, playoff injuries can cause absences at the beginning of the following season that drastically hurt a team’s chances–or at least their seeding. Draisaitl, who Holland confirmed was dealing with a high ankle sprain, still had 32 points in 16 playoff games. Nurse was dealing with a torn hip flexor for all three rounds.

  • Holland also admitted that the Oilers didn’t have a true number one goalie this season but explained just how few of those actually exist. He explained that he still needs to talk to Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen but the team is hoping that Stuart Skinner can take a step into a regular NHL role next season, even if that obviously isn’t going to be at that number one level. Koskinen is an unrestricted free agent and not expected to be back with the Oilers, while Smith still has one year left on his contract at a $2.2MM cap hit.
  • One of the more interesting moments in the press conference was when the manager was pressed about Jesse Puljujarvi, who found himself in the bottom six more often than not at the end of the year and is a restricted free agent this summer. When asked if Puljujarvi was part of the solution for the Oilers moving forward, Holland simply said “that’s what I have to sort out.” The 24-year-old forward is due a $1.41MM qualifying offer and is eligible for arbitration.

Darnell Nurse Suspended One Game

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As expected, the Edmonton Oilers will be without star defenseman Darnell Nurse when they try to stay alive tomorrow night. The Department of Player Safety has announced a one-game suspension following last night’s head-butting incident, ruling Nurse out for game six. As the accompanying video explains:

It is important to note that this is not an accidental collision that occurs when two players are moving at speed and heads collide when attempting to throw a legal body check. This is an unacceptable head-butt delivered with the top of the helmet, delivered with the top of the helmet directly to an opponent’s face, with force. 

The DoPS also handed out a $5,000 fine to his Oilers’ teammate Zack Kassian, for the cross-check he delivered on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Sean Durzi last night.

For Nurse, it is a brutal decision that will leave his team shorthanded in the most important game of the season. The incident occurred late in the second period with the Kings on the powerplay, and was not penalized by the on-ice officials. As the league notes, there is no significant history of this behavior from the Oilers defenseman (at least in terms of supplementary discipline) as he has just one previous suspension–a three-game ban for serving as the aggressor in a 2016 fight.

There was also no injury on the play for Phillip Danault, who would go on to score in the third period and finish the game. Those factors will at least keep Nurse available for a game seven, should the series reach that.

It was actually Kassian’s cross-check that put the Oilers on the penalty kill in the first place, as he delivered a hard shot to the back of Durzi after the Kings’ defenseman was hit by Evander Kane. As Kane and Blake Lizotte engaged and received matching roughing penalties, Kassian cross-checked Durzi and took his own two-minute minor. Luckily, at least for the Oilers, it will only cost Kassian some money and not a chance to play in game six when they will need all hands on deck to avoid a disappointing series result.

In a related move, Edmonton recalled Philip Broberg from Bakersfield of the AHL. He played in 23 games with the Oilers during the regular season and could be an option to take Nurse’s place in the lineup.

Darnell Nurse To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Edmonton Oilers are on the brink of elimination and they may now be without their best defenseman. Darnell Nurse will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety today, after head-butting Los Angeles Kings forward Phillip Danault last night.

The incident in question happened on the penalty kill, as the Oilers tried to shoulder a barrage from the Kings, and Nurse was tangled with Danault in front of the net. As Mike Smith covered up a shot, Nurse extended up and through Danault, connecting helmet with chin. The play was not penalized by the on-ice officials, in what was a very physical contest.

If Nurse is suspended, which seems likely at this point, the Oilers will be heading to Los Angeles with some questions to answer on defense. The team is carrying seven defensemen at the moment with Kris Russell serving as the extra, and also have Philip Broberg that they could insert into the lineup with a recall. Either way, it will be a tough task for the team given Nurse’s importance.

Even while he deals with an injury, the 27-year-old is still averaging nearly 22 minutes a night and has two points in five games.

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