Oilers: How Darnell Nurse stacks up with the 2013 NHL Draft

About to enter his 12th season with the Edmonton Oilers, it’s hard to believe that Darnell Nurse finds himself the second-longest-tenured member of the roster.

A full 82-game season from the defenceman will solidify him sixth overall in franchise history in terms of games played, and contract warts aside, there’s no denying he’s been an important member of the organization.

Over his 11 seasons, he’s appeared in 716 games, scoring 81 goals, 219 assists, 300 points and 621 PIM.

But with over a decade’s worth of games since being taken seventh overall in the 2013 draft, it’s time to look back at how he shapes up with other members of his class.

The first round misses

By all accounts, this was a solid first round. Of the 30 players selected, they’ve averaged 519 games, 101 goals, 189 assists, 289 points and 243 PIM, according to HockeyDB.

Few players could be considered true misses here. The earliest miss was the Philadelphia Flyers’ 11th overall selection of defenceman Samuel Morin, who played just 29 NHL games. There’s some misses later in the round, too.

Winger Kerby Rychel, drafted 19th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, played 43 games, winger Hunter Shinkaruk, drafted 24th by the Vancouver Canucks, played 15 games while the Calgary Flames had two missses: winger Emile Porier, drafted 22nd, played eight games, while winger Morgan Klimchuk, drafted 28th, played just one.

The Value

The third round of this draft was stacked with seven players have played over 400 games:

There were some other sleepers in this class, too.

C Andrew Copp was drafted in the fourth round, 104th overall by the Winnipeg Jets, and has played 700 games, scoring 114 goals and 300 points. D Mackenzie Weegar was taken by the Florida Panthers in the seventh round, 206th overall, playing 550 games, scoring 59 goals and 251 points.

There were two goals of impact from this class. The Nashville Predators took Juuse Saros 99th overall in the fourth round, while the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Tristan Jarry 44th overall.

How does Nurse stack up with the class?

Nurse shapes up well with the class overall. He’s 11th in games played, 27th in goals, 16th in assists, and 23rd in points.

Among defencemen, those ranks improve: fourth in games played behind Nikita Zadorov, Rasmus Ristolainen and Seth Jones, second in goals behind Jones, as well as fifth in assists and points behind all of Ristolainen, Shea Theodore, Josh Morrissey and Jones.

Did the Oilers make the right pick?

Looking at the other players selected behind him, I struggle to find anyone clear cut and dry as better selections than Nurse. Those who could be in contention are Ristolainen, Bo Horvat, Valeri Nichushkin and Josh Morrissey.

Horvat likely has the strongest argument to be the one, as he’s racked up 813 games, 269 goals and 561 points, but at the time the Oilers had Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 20, and Sam Gagner, 24, on the roster as the one-two punch up the middle that they hoped to carry them into the future.

Nichushkin has a good case as someone that was expected to be a top-five pick, sliding to Dallas at 10, but he has had his own struggles throughout his career before settling in with the Colorado Avalanche.

The organization didn’t have much in terms of blue chip defensive prospects at the time, and Nurse was someone who not only faced the toughest competition of any blue liner in the draft, but was looked at as a blue-chip prospect.

Whatever you may say now about how Nurse has panned out, the biggest issue plaguing him in the year 2025 isn’t so much his play, which has been solid over the years, but rather his $9.25-million contract.

Past classes

• Jesse Puljujarvi — 2016 Draft
• Nail Yakupov — 2012 Draft
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — 2011 Draft
• Sam Gagner — 2007 Draft