During the last playoffs, Darnell Nurse was widely criticized. The defenseman, who wasn’t playing up to his contract ($9.25 per year), was the scapegoat whenever the Oilers were in trouble.
It’s not the first time he’s been the target of criticism, though. He’s not a bad defender, but with a contract like this comes high expectations.
As a result, he’s not necessarily being considered for Team Canada… but don’t jump to conclusions, as reported by Anthony DiMarco for OilersNation.
Darnell Nurse is being considered for Team Canada’s roster at Four Nations Faceoff https://t.co/w5Yyu5VWjP
– Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ’07 (@OilersNation) October 29, 2024
The reason for this is simple: Canada needs players who can fill thankless roles on the team. It will, after all, take players to play short-handed, and a guy like Nurse can take on such a contract.
To a certain extent, it’s for the same reasons that Tom Wilson is also in the discussion.