Oilers’ Darnell Nurse out day-to-day, will miss game against Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers will be without defenseman Darnell Nurse for Thursday’s game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told Sportsnet’s Gene Principe.

Principe adds that Nurse’s status is considered day-to-day, while the nature of his absence is undisclosed.

Through 55 appearances with the Oilers this season, Nurse has scored four times and added 18 assists to sit third among team defensemen with 22 points. Nurse has also registered 40 penalty minutes and a plus-eight rating.

Originally chosen seventh overall by Edmonton in the 2013 NHL Draft, the 30-year-old native of Hamilton, Ont., has skated 11 seasons with the Oilers in which he has totaled 80 goals and 209 assists for 289 points through 695 career contests. On two occasions, Nurse has surpassed the 40-point plateau, underscored by his career-high 43-point finish in 2022-23 where through 82 outings he collected 12 goals and 31 assists. Nurse has also added four goals and 17 assists for 21 points through 72 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Per PuckPedia, Nurse is in third year of an eight-year contract that carries a $9.25-million annual average value.

For the Oilers, Thursday’s contest against the Panthers marks the second meetup between the two squads this season following the 2024 Stanley Cup Final that saw Florida prevail in a dramatic seven-game series. In their first game of 2024-25 coming in mid-December, the Panthers came away with a 6-5 road victory in which center Carter Verhaeghe netted the eventual game winner with less than seven minutes remaining in the final frame, while Nurse finished with a plus-one rating and six penalty minutes in the Oilers’ losing effort.

Now in the midst of a four-game losing skid, the Oilers have dropped to second place in the Pacific Division with a 34-20-4 showing, two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights.