Shocking Oiler Among Best NHL Players Ranking
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl made the Top 125 players list from The Athletic, but another player did that may surprise some fans.
The Edmonton Oilers are incredibly fortunate to have the talent they do. Several first round drafts picks, many of them 1st overall selections. The result - a team that is arguably the best offensively and an exciting team to watch live or on TV.
The most notable offensive dynamos on this team are the Captain, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl. The Athletic put out a list of the top 125 players in the NHL. They devised a tiered ranking system based on offensive and defensive rankings. These rankings take many different statistics into account. Seven different Oilers find themselves on this list - the two mentioned above as well as five others.
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The five others include a couple forwards that are underrated around the league. There is one defenceman in particular on this list that may surprise some Oilers' fans, as he is often a scapegoat - enduring more criticism than is warranted for the value that he brings to the team.
Darnell Nurse
The defenceman in question is none other than Darnell Nurse. He has amassed the most minutes played over the past several years of all the defencemen on the Oilers' blue line. While most don't question his offensive skills, he receives a lot of criticism for his defensive skills.
This particular model places Darnell Nurse in the same tier as defencemen Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin, Aaron Ekblad and Jakob Chychrun. This is largely due to his offensive skill. Some of his analytics from this past season suggest that the disdain for Nurse is blown wildly out of proportion.
Having seven total players on the top 125 list has to feel good for Oilers fans. Some may disagree with Nurse's placement on the list, but they can't deny the impact he has on this team.
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