Did Oilers Make Odd Defense Choice as Nurse Plays vs. Kraken?

The Edmonton Oilers flew into Seattle to face the Kraken on Wednesday night. With two exhibition games left on their schedule, joining them in his first preseason game is defenseman Darnell Nurse. Nurse has been nursing (pun intended) a nagging injury and the team has been cautious not to rush him back. But, as the club wants to get him some real-world reps and see what he can do with new defense partners, he is back in.

It’s the desire to see what Nurse can do in a new pairing that makes the Oilers’ decision ahead of the game so intriguing.

** Update: please note, the lineup could change, but as of this afternoon, the projected lines did not include Ty Emberson.

Instead of playing Nurse with Ty Emberson (who is speculated to start the season as the No. 4) or with Troy Stecher (who has played well in preseason action), the Oilers have put Nurse with Travis Dermott. Dermott, who is at camp on a PTO, isn’t signed to an NHL contract. There is no guarantee he will start opening night in Edmonton.

As such, this either indicates that the Oilers intend to offer Dermott a deal and want to ensure first that he can handle bigger minutes. Or, they don’t care much about seeing Nurse with Emberson. And, if Nurse isn’t slated to play both of the final two games, head coach Kris Knoblauch won’t get to see the Nurse and Emberson pairing in a game at all.

The Lineups for the Oilers Have Nurse with Dermott

As per Jason Gregor of Oilers Nation, the lineups will see Edmonton icing most of their starters. The top nine is playing as they likely will be slotted to start the season, and a couple of key depth pieces are getting potentially one last look on the fourth line; Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp will get one more chance to impress before a cut is made.

Stuart Skinner starts in goal and six of the seven projected defensemen are in. But, it’s the blue line pairings that seem like the head-scratcher. Mattias Ekholm is with Evan Bouchard (expected), and Nurse is with Dermott (unexpected). Brett Kulak is with Josh Brown, but Emberson is out completely.

Does Knoblauch have something up his sleeve? Is he not putting Emberson and Nurse together? Or, has he already seen what he needs to?

The Lines vs. The Kraken

RNH – McDavid – Hyman
J. Skinner – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Janmark – Henrique –  C. Brown
Caggiula -Philp – Ryan

Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Dermott
Kulak – J. Brown

Skinner
Rodrigue

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