Darnell Nurse is making his return to play tonight

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Finnegan Frost
October 2, 2024 (2:43 PM)

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The Oilers will be playing the Seattle Kraken tonight for an intense pre-season showdown.

According to Oilers Insider Jason Gregor, Darnell Nurse has been cleared to play and will be making his preseason debut tonight.

As per Gregor, Darnell Nurse has been skating with his teammates since he arrived in Edmonton in early September. He took part in Captain Skates prior to training camp and has been on the ice and involved in every drill during training camp and preseason, but he's yet to play a game. He will play tonight, and depending how he feels afterwards he could also dress on Friday. My hunch is he will play Friday in Vancouver, but it isn't a guarantee.

Nurse has to be the anchor on the second pair. He has to be the one controlling the play and he can't expect Ty Emberson or Troy Stecher to be the driver of their pairing. Nurse is more than capable of being the leader on his pairing. Nurse was outstanding in the 2021 season and quite solid in 2022 and 2023, but last season he didn't play up to his potential for much of the season and the playoffs.

Nurse will be paired with Oilers PTO candidate Travis Dermott for tonights matchup. It should be interesting to see if the two can muster up some chemistry. As of now, Darnell Nurse is expected to start the season playing alongside Ty Emberson, but that has yet to be determined by head coach Kris Knoblauch.

You can stream the game on Oilers+ or tune into to 630 CHED for live game audio. Puck drop is set for 8:00 PM MT.

Source: Oilers Nation
GDB -2.0: Darnell Nurse makes Oilers' preseason debut (8pm MT, Oilers+)