AAAAAWWWWOOOOO!
The dog days of summer are dragging and many of our schedules are packed with family, work, parties, etc…
Hockey just ain’t on the radar.
Outside of news of the Cats taking the Cup on a helicopter ride, Rodrigues potentially being Florida’s next big extension, etc…there’s been nothing of real interest coming out of the Panther den — at least to me.
Until this morning…
While crushing a donut and scrolling for Cats news, I came upon this article from the
Hockey Writersthey posted yesterday regarding a rumor suggesting a defenseman swap.
While even THW suggests it’s a really slim possibility, the deal would be Darnell Nurse/prospects/picks for Aaron Ekblad.
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To put it bluntly, there’s a chance, but not a huge one. Both teams are in a position where they need to make a change on their blue line, and swapping defenders could be an idea that benefits both of them. Theoretically, the Oilers would be flipping Darnell Nurse and prospects and picks to the Panthers in exchange for Aaron Ekblad. Now, this seems easily one-sided for the Oilers as they would be getting back a Stanley Cup champion in Ekblad while clearing up a ton of cap space long-term, but it’s not that simple. Ekblad is a pending unrestricted free agent with just one season left on his deal, and the Oilers would have to retain some of Nurse’s long-term contract to make this work, making it a bit of an issue for them. At the end of the day, is something like this possible?”
Adding how they see Nurse benefitting the Cats:
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Nurse is someone who has taken a lot of heat from Oilers fans in recent seasons due to his large contract. While he hasn’t maintained a top defender role, he still plays well in a bottom-four role and as an off-ice leader with the Oilers. He can eat up minutes when needed and has proven to be a solid offensive producer when he has confidence from his coaching staff. Oilers fans have seen stints of Nurse looking like an elite-level player, but they’ve also seen him at his lowest, making his consistency a bit of an issue. However, he can still be a positive addition for the Panthers should they decide to consider acquiring him.
Aside from being a fantastic off-ice presence, Nurse’s long-term deal takes their worries away from having to deal with a player who they need to extend. Nurse does have consistency issues as I’ve already mentioned, but the losses of Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the back end should have the Panthers concerned heading into the 2024-25 campaign, considering those two were huge pieces for their championship run last season.”
While I like Nurse’s edge/physicality at times, he showed a huge consistency issue throughout EDM’s playoff run this season. He was particularly exposed a number of times in the Stanley Cup Finals. Some of the moments that stick out to me with him in that series were his lapses in the defensive zone. He often took the bait of a Florida player on the goal line, choosing to leave his post protecting the front of the net, in favor of going at the player on the goal line. This opened the door for a Cat to slip into the high danger area right at the goalmouth uncontested.
However, I can only go off what I saw in that series, as well as what I would read/see from Oiler fans via various media outlets throughout their run. The general consensus was he was definitely a liability out there. Sticking with my point that I don’t follow Edmonton, could it be that this was just a down year for Nurse? Or is he sliding?
The other thing to consider is his contract. He is currently in year 3 of an 8-year, $74M contract. That’s a $9.25 AAV. He’s currently 29 and will be 35 when he becomes an UFA.
I get what THW are saying in terms of getting a contract controlled guy - eliminating the headache of having to extend someone - but I’ve seen the Panthers have enough big contracts on the books.
For me, I’m actually OK hanging onto Ekblad at the moment (I previously was not in this camp). I’m very excited to see this new defensive corp.
Checkout this group. Some sweet names and definitely the possibility of strong defensive play. Let’s not add another bloated contract to the mix:
Forsling - Exblad
Mikkola - Schmidt
Kulikov - Boqvist
Really pumped to see how Boqvist works out. If all goes well, it could be another Forsling situation in terms of a guy who bounced around and found his game once he came to Florida.
What are your thoughts, Cats fans?
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Stay cool out there! Go Panthers!
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