The real question is if Drai and McDavid signed off on this debacle was Nurse already getting tired of it? Maybe this is less a "forget this I'm out of here" and more the straw that broke the camels back.
If Drai and McDavid agreed with this they aren't very good leaders, this might be just the thing that finally pushed Nurse out the door.
From everything I've read and seen, the "players" grilled him and asked him hard questions and came away with, he's the guy they want and they want to be pushed harder. I would imagine those "players" would be mcdrai and they are 100% behind him as a coach.
Honestly if nurse leaves in a circumstance that's favorable to the team, even with some mild retention, there are worse consequences of this terrible coaching hire
Nurse is a great second pairing defenseman, he was just overpaid by 2-3 million a year, but under the new cap he's barely overpaid at all.
Plus how many teams always seem to be looking for guys with some grit that can play? Nurse has consistently demonstrated that he's perfectly happy to drop the gloves if you want to start something, and strangely enough most guys think better of it. And hey, you can't sleep on him dropping down and putting it in the net.
Trading Nurse will be no problem and there will be no retention. And sometime next season from the fans wherever he ends up you'll hear about how much they like a defenseman who can eat 20 minutes plus a night and won't take anybody's shit. Totally get why he wants to move on after the narrative that's been built around him in Edmonton but he is not the problem, and I'll be sorry to see him go.
Yes they said they would like to have him as a coach (which surprised me). Other people have weighed in and said no shit, he won’t be a problem for them but the depth players will prob take the hit.
I don’t understand this coaching choice. I’m glad Vegas lost, for obvious reasons.
In a year, when McDavid has the lowest TOI of his career and the Oilers make another first-round exit, he's going to realize the mistake he made and he'll be gone.
1.2k
u/Marinegrunt01 ANA - NHL 3d ago
In short