The San Jose Sharks made three key additions to their blue line this summer, the most contentious of which was likely Darnell Nurse, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers. Nurse has long been considered a steady two-way defenseman, although there has been a consensus league-wide that his current contract has made him one of the most overpaid players in the NHL as well. That argument wasn't helped by the fact that his game took a major step backward during the 2025-26 season on both ends of the ice. Last season, Nurse finished with just 24 points despite playing all 82 games, his lowest point total since the 2017-18 season which was his first full season at the NHL level. While plus/minus isn't a very informative stat in the modern age, the fact that he finished as a minus player for the first time in over half of a decade is worth mentioning as well. Nurse's success in San Jose will simply depend on usage. If he's expected to be a top-pairing defenseman and key special teams contributor, he'll likely be regarded in a similar fashion as he was in Edmonton. That's simply not his role and for a team to be successful, Nurse should be a second-pairing player with some usage on the penalty kill, but nothing excessive. Unfortunately, given the Sharks' lack of high-end defensive talent, Nurse will likely be given a much bigger role than he should this season. With that being said, a change of scenery for the 31-year-old could be massively beneficial. Of course, with his age, there is an important question to ponder. Was last season simply the result of an unhappy player with an organization who no longer valued him, or was it the start of regression starting to take hold? Personally, although Nurse's game is likely to change over the next year or two due to his age, I felt that last season was simply an outlier at this stage in his career. In his first season in the Bay Area, Nurse should bounce back to between 35-40 points which will certainly help bring some offense from the blue line compared to last season. If he's able to do that while also having his performance in the defensive zone return to prior form as well, then he should be a worthwhile addition for the Sharks despite his contract.
