Monday Mailbag – Should the Oilers trade Darnell Nurse for scoring help?

Another Monday is here, ruining the practice retirement you waited all week for, and that means it’s time to collectively waste some company time until the next weekend rolls around. With that in mind, the mailbag is here, as always, to help you kill off a few minutes from your day and maybe, just maybe, help you learn a little something while here. If you’d like to join in on next week’s mailbag, I’d like that, you just need to email me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Now sit back, relax, and waste as many work hours as possible. Have a good week, everybody.

Any chance? Sure. There’s always a chance, but I don’t think it’ s likely (or smart). Nurse is already a top-four D-man. He’s tough. He can skate. He competes. If he can bump up the points he produces into the 30’s then he becomes even more valuable. What is it you aren’t convinced about?

No. I’m answering with what I think the Oilers would do. I believe they would trade Klefbom before trading Nurse. It’s not that he’s untouchable, but I think he has all the qualities the team likes. He’s mean, he can skate, he is getting better. Equally important to this question is that I’m not convinced the team values Klefbom as high as they ought to and would move him first.

No. The Oilers love Nurse way too much. I agree with you and think that could be a worthwhile option to pursue but the Oilers have been all-in on Nurse for so long.

I think the Oilers will hold onto Nurse a little longer. He’s still a little young in terms of defensive development and they seem to really like him. I wouldn’t consider him untouchable, but I don’t think Chia will be actively shopping him in deals for a winger.

Why you gotta hate on Darryl like that!? Sure, there are times when he looks lost out there but he’s still a young guy that’s learning the ways of the force. I get why you’re suggesting the trade based on contract, but I don’t get it based on play. The Oilers need more NHL defenceman, not fewer, and the farm isn’t ready to spit out any full-timers yet.

Not surprised. You need experience, but not many teams have the luxury of keeping players who bring experience but not much more. Vets wear out and wind down and you have to replace them, hopefully with guys who can lead AND play.

I think what changed was his team started losing and instead of doing any real evaluations as to why, he leapt on the lazy narrative about Hendricks. If he acknowledges that fiction instead of reality he buys time from the media and he avoids having to admit the real problems. It’s a dumbass response to what happened last year from a dumbass.

If by experience he means the glut of scoring wingers traded away, then I agree. If he means Matt Hendricks, then that’s not going to change much.

It honestly makes my head hurt. This isn’t the first time Chia has said something like this and it makes me completely lose trust in him. You know the type of cheap leadership the team needs? It’s the Matt Hendricks kind.

“We’re gonna go ahead and get rid of all the experienced players on the team.”

One year later…

“Alright, we’re gonna need to go ahead and add some experienced players to the team.”

This guy…

Rushing to extend Talbot might be penny wise, but it’s pound foolish, as the old saying goes. I think he can and will bounce back, but let’s see that happen first. If Talbot was in line to put together a third straight year like the one he had two seasons ago, you would be able to say you’ve seen enough, but he’s coming off a sub-par year. Making sure about him is worth the cost of any premium.

On principle, I believe that teams should squeeze every penny from their goaltenders. Wait and see. They should always be looking for new and better options.

I wouldn’t. He’ll be 32 when his new contract starts and I would have liked to see a younger option brought in to challenge Talbot and perhaps take over in a year or two.

Nah, I can’t see Talbot needing too much of a raise when the time comes and re-signing him might be a risk we don’t really need right now.

I see what you’re getting at because Talbs had a bad year in 2017-18, but you could end up extending a goalie that may not rebound. It’s a gamble, but I’d wait and see. Besides, He’s getting a little bit older now so you’d have to think the Oilers would be wanting a shorter term extension.

Pre-game shows change from year to year. With so many lame game-night presentations around the league should anyone really be concerned a really good one might be too long? I’d rather get too much of a good thing than 30 seconds of some of the crap you get in many rinks.

It can get tedious for us to see before every game but they’re only showing it before every game because it’s the playoffs and it should be a TV spectacle. In person though, I would hardly complain about going to the games and being entertained.

I love it. Hockey should be fun and taken less seriously.

Honestly I missed both opening ceremonies in games one and two. From what I’ve heard, they were super cool, but it may be a ‘once you see one, you’ve seen them all’ sort of scenario.

The first time I saw it, I thought “wow this is incredible.” The second time, I was more ‘meh, they do this every night?’ LIke Matt said, I bet it would be fun to see live though. That said, I wish more NHL teams (specifically one blue and orange wearing team) would put some actual thought and effort into their fan experience. You don’t have to go full-Vegas but something other than crowd shots would be nice.

I don’t make anything of it because it’s four years in a row. In the last 10 years, counting 2018, nine different teams have made the final — Miami, Golden State and Cleveland lead with four appearances each, followed by LA and San Antonio with two appearances each. In the previous nine years, the NBA has had six different champions with LA, Miami and Golden State winning twice each. In the last nine years, the NHL has had four different Stanley Cup winners — Pittsburgh and Chicago have won three times each, LA twice and Boston once.

Basketball is a different kind of team sport than hockey because one megastar can be the difference in a game every night. LeBron can play 100% of the minutes a night whereas McDavid can only play roughly 33% of the night. I guess what I’m getting at is if the NHL had half the current roster size we’d probably see more stuff like that as the teams with the best star players rise to the top.

I don’t mind. People overrate the NHL’s parity. It’s been 10 years since a team not named Pittsburgh/Boston/Los Angeles/Chicago won the Stanley Cup.

As someone who doesn’t really follow basketball, it adds some excitement for me. It almost makes me want to watch it more because I’m a big dynasty-story-lover and love watching the Lebron vs Curry matchup.

I care so little about basketball that I didn’t even know this was true. But to answer the question, what’s the difference between that and the Penguins/Blackhawks/Kings winning all the time? At least in the NBA, there will be some solid Golden State/Cleveland rivalry that should be built up.

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