Fans shocked as Darnell Nurse reportedly being considered for a role with Team Canada
Photo credit: Oil on Whyte
Darnell Nurse has struggled to live up to the lofty expectations of his deal signed with the Edmonton Oilers, but somehow, he's reportedly on Team Canada's radar.
Team Canada has some huge decisions to make ahead of the upcoming Four Nations Face-off against the United States, Sweden, and Finland, with these decisions likely factoring in their roster for the 2026 Olympic Games. The forward group is a tough one to pick, but the defense isn't seen as that difficult, with the likes of Devon Toews, Cale Makar, Shea Theodore, Josh Morrisey, and Alex Pietrangelo all likely for the team, with the final few spots left up to some other intriguing names.
One name that no fan has considered is Darnell Nurse, as the Oilers blue liner has struggled for the past few years to make much of an impact, but according to Anthony DiMarco, he is quickly becoming a genuine possibility.
«Darnell Nurse is in the conversation to play on the third pair and in a penalty-killing role Another name is Travis Sanheim from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Both Nurse and Sanheim are competing for that third-pairing, shutdown, penalty-kill role.
Subjectively speaking, your top four is (Devon) Toews, (Cale) Makar, (Shea) Theodore, and (Alex) Pietrangelo, and after that, it's anyone's ball game.
One executive did mention the question of how many power-play defencemen Team Canada can have. You need players who can play defensively and fill two-way roles. That's where Darnell Nurse and Travis Sanheim may be playing their way into a top-six or top-seven role with the team.»
Both Nurse and Sanheim are competing for that third-pairing, shutdown, penalty-kill role.
Subjectively speaking, your top four is (Devon) Toews, (Cale) Makar, (Shea) Theodore, and (Alex) Pietrangelo, and after that, it's anyone's ball game.
One executive did mention the question of how many power-play defencemen Team Canada can have. You need players who can play defensively and fill two-way roles. That's where Darnell Nurse and Travis Sanheim may be playing their way into a top-six or top-seven role with the team.»
This is a ridiculous notion given that there are likely 20 or more players more suited for the role than Nurse, and in the comments, fans were reacting much in the same way:
Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much support for the idea of putting Nurse on Team Canada's roster, and with the likes of Mackenzie Weegar, Noah Dobson, Aaron Ekblad, and many, many others likely ahead of Nurse on the depth chart, thankfully it's something that shouldn't be taken seriously.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 29 | 60 ANSWERS Fans shocked as Darnell Nurse reportedly being considered for a role with Team Canada Does Darnell Nurse rank in the top-25 of current Canadian defenseman in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 13 | 21.7 % |
| No | 47 | 78.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
