Bad news: Darnell Nurse’s foot injury was actually an ankle tendon that required surgical repair. He will be out up to 12 weeks recovering from this.

Darnell Nurse was carving himself out a great follow-up season to his rookie campaign. The former 7th overall pick was playing out of his depth as a rookie on a banged up Oilers squad in 2015-2016. He was getting demolished in shot attempts for a good portion of the season. He started to pull himself out of it near the end, but he was 7th of 7 defenders (minimum 400 minutes) on the team in CF% last year at 45.5%.

This year Darnell Nurse is ranked 2nd behind only Matthew Benning in CF% at 53.2%. It’s true that he’s been playing on the 3rd pair in easier minutes compared to the 2nd pair last year. Still, all you can ask of a player you put into a favorable situation is for them to perform. Nurse has done that.

His biggest asset is his athleticism. He’s a fantastic skater. He’s so adept at transporting the puck using his feet that you forget he’s also 6’4” and 213 pounds. That’s part of the reason a foot related injury is so scary for him. You just hope it doesn’t affect his ability to skate. Twitter doctors assure me that surgery to ankle tendons almost always result in stronger tendons in the end, so that’s good news from the internet MDs.

The Oilers should be without Nurse until March. That’s a long time, but if they can overcome then we can look at his eventual return as a major boost to the club.

Until then, it appears that Brandon Davidson is about ready to return to the club. David Musil was returned to the AHL Condors, which indicates that Davidson should be ready for action. Last season Davidson was the breakout surprise story for the Oil.

Davidson, a cancer survivor who has exceeded expectations at every level of hockey, lead the Oilers blueline in possession metrics a year ago. He plays a meat and potatoes brand of hockey that mixes physicality and quick decision making . As a member of an Oilers squad that was beat to hell a year ago, Davidson rose to the occasion and at points looked like a stabilizing force on the blueline.

He played in just the season opener this year before he was lost to a shoulder injury. In total he’s been on the ice for just 7:49 so far. With Nurse’s loss, the return of Davidson couldn’t come at a better time. The 3rd pairing can go back to playing more important minutes. This should take the pressure off of Sekera-Russell and allow them to get back into better positions.

LINEUP

Nurse’s foot is gangrenous. Davidson should be coming back. Waiting to see if Hendricks plays.

Lucic McDavid Caggiula
Maroon RNH Eberle
Pouliot Draisaitl Pitlick
Slepyshev Letestu Kassian

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Davidson Benning

Talbot
Gustavsson

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Samwise. Sam Gagner is having himself a nice rebound year. He has 11 goals, 8 assists, and 19 points in 25 games playing an average of just 13:37 a night for Tortorella. His two most common linemates are Sedlak and Hartnell, but he’s used quite sparingly at even strength then as a key component of the Power Play. I have a lot of time for Sam Gagner. He was left for dead on an Oilers team that neglected its defense and changed its head coach every year. Gagner has had the same head coach in consecutive years just once, if I recall correctly. It’s hard to gain any traction living like that. His best campaign was in the lockout shortened year and the follow up season was derailed by Zack Kassian, who broke his face. If he can start to be a productive NHLer again then good for him. I’ll always be a fan.

2) Torts and The Fancies. Earlier in the season the Columbus Bluejackets looked like a smoke and mirrors team when it came to success. They were winning but they were getting demolished by the fancy stats. Aaron Portzline quoted Torts when it was at its lowest point as saying this: “I’d rather spend time doing that than listening to this crap about the Corsi and the Fenwick, because those stats do not apply. I don’t care what anybody says in this league, they don’t apply to the game of hockey.” He’s incorrect and that’s fine. What’s changed is that from that time moving forward is that Columbus has started to out-possess their opposition. They went from one of the worst in the league to one of the better teams in the league. They are now as far above 50% in mid-December as they were below 50% in mid-November using a 10 game rolling average. The point is that their success looks less like a mirage and a lot more real today than when Torts was asked about the fancies.

3) Defensive Balance. It was alluded to in the main blog, but the loss of Nurse, Gryba, and Davidson really crippled the 3rd pairing for the Oilers. McLellan has been (unfortunately) loading up Kris Russell with significant minutes since then and the results are a mess. Edmonton needs to keep Russell’s minutes manicured and the return of Davidson should keep the other pairs in a better balance. The last two games have seen the team’s worst possession defender log 24:08 and 26:52. Those are minutes where the Oilers are getting shelled and hemmed into their own zone. Hopefully the Sekera-Russell pair can be much more effective in the 19-21 minute range.

Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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