Naturally, Ryan is a depth piece on the Oilers, and won’t have as big an effect on the game as several more of the Oilers better players. Though his 20 points scored in 2022–23 were less than the 22 he scored in 2021–22, his 13 goals were the most he’s scored in a season since 2018–19 with the Calgary Flames. At age 36, Ryan put up consistent offensive totals compared to his career average. Yet here we are, eight seasons into his NHL career with Ryan as one of the stronger bottom-six forwards on the team. Ryan might well have earned a grade of B in all of his NHL seasons, as nothing much has been expected of Ryan as an NHLer. The seemingly ageless wonder known as Derek Ryan defied our knowledge of the aging curve once again in 2022–23. The Oilers penalty kill did leave something to be desired in 2022–23, and having Ekholm, a more natural top penalty kill option, will do well to improve the group, easing the load on Nurse, and better maximising Nurse’s effectiveness overall. The grade of B here indicates that Nurse lived up to what we should expect of him quite squarely, a minute-munching top pairing defender at even strength, a solid second power play option, and a capable second penalty kill option. It might be more true for Nurse than most players, that with a bit less of a cap hit and a more favourable defence partner perception of his play would be vastly different. He holds up nicely relative to an Ekholm-Bouchard pairing that has two players complementing each other and are held up in an esteem similar to Nurse’s-if not thought of as better players than Nurse outright by some. Nurse still managing to command these minutes while paired with Cody Ceci shows us just how impactful Nurse is. Once again Nurse was the Oilers leader in icetime, if only barely after the Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard pairing took shape. Still, it should be remembered that Nurse brings a lot to the ice. In the salary cap world of the NHL, this is a perfect storm for increased criticism, even ire from certain portions of the fan base. It’s also true that Nurse had a few erroneous moments that resulted in goals against through some giveaways or lapses in coverage. Yes, it’s true that Nurse makes about $1-2M more than one would like, and the length of the deal has some wondering that it might be a more burdensome contract by the end of the deal. To reduce our understanding of what Nurse brings to the lineup would be a disservice to objective analysis, however. The negatives to Darnell Nurse’s overall performance are well documented, in fact dominating the discourse of his evaluation. Today let’s look into the 2022–23 campaigns for Darnell Nurse, Derek Ryan, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Klim Kostin. Plenty of players had noteworthy campaigns individually, either positively or negatively. Things are looking promising for Edmonton’s competitive window, even though they only made it to the second round of the playoffs this season. The first time they’ve hit 50 wins since 1986–87 and the most points since 1985–86. Although the ending was disappointing, the Oilers finished the season with a 50–23–9 record, a total of 109 points. Overall, the season can be looked at as a success. Over the next few weeks, we will be giving out grades and analysis on each player who played 19 games or more for the Edmonton Oilers in the 2022–23 season. Now that the season is over and the offseason has slowed down, it is time to reflect on the season that was.
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