Oilers Defender Makes Waves on Trade Board
The Edmonton Oilers defenseman had a complicated night against the Florida Panthers. In the 4-3 loss Nurse was victimized on a play that ended up in the back of the net. He wasn’t the direct cause of the goal, but had he made a different read it’s certainly possible that goal doesn’t happen.
On the flip side, he did more good things than bad. He assisted on Philip Broberg’s goal, and was on the ice for Warren Foegele’s goal. Nurse looked more calm paired up with Broberg. That will be an interesting pair to keep tabs on.
Many fans cite his salary as the primary reason to trade him. They argue that for his salary he should “bring more to the table.”
Seravalli says that because Nurse isn’t on the first unit power play or penalty kill, that doesn’t allow him the runway to “live up” to his $9.25-million cap hit contract. He then speculates that the Oilers’ general manager may need to get creative in order to shed his contract (whoever that general manager is).
It’s tough to fault a player for not “living up to their contract”. That blame should fall on management for offering that contract. The agent and the player accepted an offer they couldn’t refuse.
My own take is simple, the Oilers are better off keeping Nurse. The early returns on playing Nurse with Broberg are great. With more time to develop chemistry, this could be a pairing that grows into something substantial for the team. Players will have down seasons and bad games, but that’s not a good enough reason to cry out for that player to be traded.
