The Oilers placed Reinhart on IR yesterday. In addition to this, Schultz left the last game part of the way through and is still not with the team. That means the Oilers were free to call up someone from the AHL and they made that call-up Darnell Nurse.
Ever since the Oilers sent Nurse down to the AHL the question was always going to be “How long can they possibly keep him down?” My guess was he would be a fulltime NHLer by Christmas. This call-up doesn’t mean he’s a fulltime NHLer, but it’s an opportunity to establish himself with the coaching staff. He has to show McLellan and the Oiler brass that he can get the job done.
So far in the AHL Nurse has just 1 assist in 6 games, but his game isn’t all about the points. The reports from Bakersfield are that Nurse is head and shoulders above the other skaters in terms of his skating and physical tools. That said, his ability to play with the puck has been noted with the Condors.
For my money, after getting a chance to see him now for a handful of games, I don’t think his offensive abilities have been mentioned enough, to be fair, “Bartl said. “A lot of what I see out of Darnell Nurse early on this season isn’t necessarily like these fantastical tape-to-tape passes, but he’s very steady moving the puck, and everything. He’s extremely comfortable with the puck on his stick. I mean pivoting, making moves, back-pedaling if he has to, changing from forehand to backhand, he’s just very comfortable when it on his stick.
That quote from
The Cult of Hockey originates from Condors colourman Kevin Bartl. It is an assessment that fits with everything we’ve seen from his limited time with the Oilers.
During Training Camp I believed (and still do) that Nurse outplayed several of the men who stayed up with the big club. Specifically I thought he proved himself better than Ference and Davidson, plus we could probably throw in Gryba for good measure. Since then Gryba has shown a certain level of competence that makes the coaching staff feel pretty comfortable with him, but neither Davidson nor Ference have put in a complete game without at least one glaring error.
Edmonton has taken its time with Nurse. They sent him back to Jr twice so he could mature physically and garner experience. They sent him to the AHL even though he might have been better than others just so he could play big minutes. Now, rather than call up someone like Hunt the team has opted to call up Nurse. That speaks volumes when during the same scenario with their forwards they have kept Draisaitl in the AHL.
It might be short lived, but right now Nurse gets his chance to prove he belongs in the NHL. It’s going to happen eventually. I didn’t think it would come so quickly. I hope he’s prepared.
LINEUP
Hendricks is still out, Schultz’ mystery injury kept him from even travelling with the club, and Reinhart was placed on IR. The Oilers recalled Nurse. McLellan said of Nurse "We brought him here to play.", and they have him paired with Klefbom to start.
Hall RNH Klinkhammer
Pouliot McDavid Yakupov
Korpikoski Lander Purcell
Slepyshev Letestu Pakarinen
Nurse Klefbom
Sekera Fayne
Davidson Gryba
Talbot
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Zone Exits. For a very significant portion of the game against LA the Oilers could not exit the zone to save their lives. Even with Schultz in the game the team has a problem with outlet passes. Part of that falls on the defensemen and part of that fall on the forwards. If the defenders arent able to consistently get the job done then the forwards need to support them a lot better. With Nurse we expect him to use his feet to transport the puck further up the ice before making the pass. This should give the team different looks.
2) Shooter. Taylor Hall leads the NHL in overall shots (39) and is tied for 2nd in 5v5 shots (27). While that has only translated into 3 goals and 6 points, the fact that he is a volume shooter is great. The coaching staff has talked about what volume shooting does to defenses. It tires them out, it creates breakdowns, it results in 2nd and 3rd chances. Right now a lot of those chances are going to Klinkhammer and eventually it will be Eberle getting them, but still it’s important. Taylor Hall is back to pushing the river offensively. Eventually those shots are going to find the back of the net.
3) Duby. Word yesterday was that Dubnyk had a knee issue and was unlikely to play. That should mean Darcy Kuemper will be playing tonight but Dubnyk was the first off the ice today in practice. Kuemper had a rock solid start in his first game this year but followed that up with a brutal 21 minutes against Winnipeg where he gave up 4 goals on 18 shots, dropping his save percentage below .900 on the season. Dubnyk’s last three games have been very strong though. If Dubnyk can play then they need to get him moving around as much as possible to test that knee out.
Puck drops tonight at 6 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet Oilers. Game On!
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