Yesterday on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, noted hockey man and NHL insider John Shannon spoke with the host about the Edmonton Oilers’ possible future plans for newly-signed defender Darnell Nurse and the trade deadline this year.
On Nurse
This (new contract) also makes Darnell Nurse a much more attractive commodity if the Oilers are forced to trade him. If, this summer, at some point they feel that in order to get the right bodies back that Darnell could be part of the package if you can guarantee the guys you’re trading with you give him two years, that’s a bonus.
That’s very interesting and says to me that the idea of moving on from Nurse is on the table. Even more interesting was Stauffer’s response to this,
Sometimes you’ve got to let go of guys you like.
Stauffer is a smart hockey guy with his ear to the ground and if he didn’t think that this was a reality, he would’ve said something contrary to that.
More Nurse Talk
When you look at his approach to the game you want to know at times, why isn’t he more dominating? And that’s something that I’m sure Dave Tippett and Jim Playfair will happily work with for the next couple of years.
The other obvious one to say there, Bob, is that when you look at the strength of the Oilers farm system there are a couple of pretty good defencemen down there and when you think about cap issues and you talk about players on entry-level deals or lesser deals than what Darnell is making or is going to make in two years; then you have-, it’s not fun but that 10% chance that you talked about in the future, you at least have to talk about it.
Shannon asks a very fair question there. Why isn’t Darnell more dominating. He’s got the tools to be an absolute wrecking ball on the back end and he is one of the league’s top-scoring defenders 5×5 over the last two years. This is a player that should much more noticeable for his strengths than his weaknesses.
The Trade Deadline
There’s two options, I think it’s either that they need a third-line center or do they need somebody else for Connor. And just as importantly, I think that this is the part that Ken Holland is struggling with, as he starts his time in Edmonton; what’s he prepared to give up? What does he really want to give up? Do you want to give up picks?
I, for one, everybody talks about you don’t wanna give up your first but you’re prepared to move a second. I’ll tell you what, the success rate of second round picks in the NHL is pretty high and if you have confidence in your scouting staff, I’m not sure you want to get rid of a second round pick.
So we can sit here and talk about do they need another scorer for Connor? Yes. Do they need a defensive center or a third-line center? Maybe. But I’m not sure I’m prepared to give anything up. So perhaps Kenny is in one of those scenarios where unless he knows he’s got a bonafide player that he’s prepared to sacrifice something off this roster, I’m not sure he does very much.
Stauffer replied,
I tend to concur with you. I’m not even sure- I think we both know Puljujarvi’s going to get traded at some point.
Bob and John go on to talk about how Jesse won’t be an Edmonton Oiler past the draft in Montreal this summer.
Where I was going to go with this, you talked about the left shot options and we know Broberg is at some point going to play in Edmonton whether it’s two years from now, a year from now, time will tell… There’s another left-shot defenceman, Dmitri Samorukov, who’s playing for Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson. I’m not even sure I’d move him.
Shannon’s comments on Dima,
Let’s face it. Samorukov got off to a slow start in Bakersfield this year. Lots of people were disappointed in the way he played in October and November in the AHL. But it was a similar start he had when he went to Guelph (OHL). Once he got the grasp of it- remember last year’s OHL playoffs, Bob. Samorukov was better than Bouchard. He was better than Bouchard. Samorukov has HUGE upside. I wouldn’t not be anywhere near touching him if I was the Edmonton Oilers unless, again, as I said, they’re getting somebody bonafide back
Just as I was saying on Twitter yesterday evening, any GM calling the Oilers asking for Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg, Dmitri Samorukov, and/or their 1st rounder won’t be talking trade for very long. Those players are off of the table and deemed untouchable at this point right now.
Shannon went on to say that Ken Holland is here for the long run and there’s no way he will be mortgaging the future just for one playoff run.
You can check out the full segment here.
Random Oilers Thoughts
- Tyler Benson wasn’t going to get a lot of time in Edmonton and anybody that’s been watching him this year knows that there was little to no chance he was going to get any time in Edmonton’s top-6. He simply doesn’t have the wheels and a brutally honest fact might be that he may never have them. But that doesn’t mean there’s no future in the NHL for him because he has other skills that are NHL-caliber.
- I love the Nurse contract and I’m not worried one iota that it walks him to free agency. I do think that what we see today is probably what he is as a defender though and not to expect much more in terms of dynamic growth. He’ll play an important role for Edmonton as they develop the Samorukovs and the Brobergs.
- Does anybody else simply not trust the Oilers’ with injury releases since McDavid blew out his knee? Coach Tippett told us after the game that it WASN’T the same knee that was bruised and then we learned yesterday that it WAS the same knee… Is it even bruised? Now we’re forced to simply wait to find out. Maybe Sportsnet will make another documentary on it…
*EDIT* I knew it… Just announced. Connor is out 2-3 weeks with a “quadricep” injury and he could miss up to seven games (CHI, TB, FLA, CAR, BOS, MIN, LAK). Is it even a quad injury? Why would he need to go all the way back to Toronto to have that looked at? You know those times when the media guy says, “We’re going to see what this team is made of now.”, this is one of those times.
- I read somebody comment that Jesse Puljujarvi has the potential to be another Andre Burakovsky and I think that’s a fair comparison for potential. I feel like the Oilers are going to look for a deal similar to the one that saw the Coyotes send Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to Chicago for Nick Schmaltz, but who could that be? Andreas Athanasiou? Josh Anderson? Kasperi Kapanen? Alex Tuch? or what about Nolan Patrick?
- Speaking of Kasperi Kapanen, his name and that of Connor Brown’s is still coming up in the rumor mill connected to the Oilers. I was told that Edmonton probably won’t go big game hunting this year but with McDavid’s injury coming at such a timely date you have to wonder if the plan has changed?
