Insider backs $74,000,000 Edmonton Oilers defenseman over fans drawing comparison to Cale Makar's contract

By Ankit Kumar

Modified Oct 12, 2023 13:27 GMT

In the world of sports, player contracts often spark debates. A recent contract that has stirred up quite the conversation is that of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. The 28-year-old signed an eight-year, $74,000,000 contract with the team in August 2021.

While opinions on Nurse's contract value have been varied, one NHL insider has backed the defenseman's deal and has addressed comparisons to other star blueliners such as Cale Makar.

During a recent episode of The Jason Gregor Show, host Gregor passionately defended the Edmonton Oilers star's contract:

"Oh, geez. Darnell Nurse, but he's a $5 million defenseman. It's so incredibly inaccurate. You can dislike Darnell Nurse, but don't make claims like that. If you want to say Darnell Nurse is an $8 million defenseman, eight and a half, I could probably live with that."

Gregor went on to encourage fans to examine the statistics and production of defensemen across the league, establishing that Nurse's contract with the Edmonton Oilers is justified:

"Like I said, go compare the production. Go compare ice time, the actual stats that they look at for defensemen. Go compare them to Dougie Hamilton and Seth Jones and Zach Werenski and Morgan Rielly. Go compare it."

He emphasized that the average value of the contracts of the aforementioned players comes out to be around $8.65 million.

"So if you want to get your shorts in a knot about a $600,000 overpay, knock yourself out, but that's what it is. But don't make egregiously false claims that he's a five or $6 million defenseman. Okay?"

He went on to say:

"And then to the Einstein's like, yeah, but Cale Makar doesn't matter. ... Cale Makar wasn't a UFA. If you can't understand that comparing UFA contracts to RFA contracts is different, I can't help you."

Gregor is having none of that negativity around Nurse

Selected seventh overall by the Oilers in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Nurse plays a pivotal role in the team's blue.

According to Jason Gregor, the discussion about Nurse's contract is futile.

"And honestly, I'm done discussing Darnell nurse's contract. I'm never mentioning it on the show. Honestly, because it's stupid. It's pointless. His contract is what it is. There's massive amounts of actual data and articles written about it. And if you don't want to take the time to look it up, I can't help."

What is your opinion of Darnell Nurse and his contract? Sound off in the comments section.