BREAKING NEWS: Nurse Pickard McDavid Gleason To Miss Next …
With only a couple of games remaining in pre-season, the Edmonton Oilers have some big decisions to make. Darnell Nurse is medically cleared, but should he slot in for the last two contests? Meanwhile, who is going to get the nod as the depth defensemen on this team and potentially play alongside Nurse? How much should the coach listen to Connor McDavid, who is clearly itching for the team to ice its regular roster? Finally, there is good news when it comes to Calvin Pickard’s injury.
coach Kris Knoblauch said when asked if Darnell Nurse was going to get into any pre-season games for the Oilers. Knoblauch added. “He’s been participating in every single drill, and has been physical, he feels well.”
But, it doesn’t sound like the Oilers are totally confident they’ll put Nurse in for the last two games of the exhibition season.
McDavid hinted that he’s feeling like the roster might not be firing on all cylinders, which is tough when the regulars aren’t in the lineup. For example, Monday’s game was the first time the second line of Leon Draisaitl, Jeff Skinner, and Viktor Arvidsson played a pre-season game together. It took some time for them to gel, and they still were relatively quiet.
He couldn’t answer questions about what he thought of his team as a whole because they’ve not been on the ice together. “I’m definitely itching for that,” he noted. It was also reported that he asked to play in Monday’s game, despite not originally being slated to.
The Oilers have a tough decision to make. With no real standout defenseman taking the No. 4, 5, or 6 job on the blue line, the positions are still up for grabs. Troy Stecher, Ty Emberson, Josh Brown, and Travis Dermott (PTO) are battling for the role. But, one defenseman potentially threw his name into the mix on Monday.
Ben Gleason had a solid game for the Oilers and played 21:49. He quarterbacked the power play and scored a goal. He won’t make the team to start the season, but Gleason can play both sides and could be an early call-up if things don’t go well with the other names mentioned.
