Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse was a full disaster in last year’s playoffs, and now, coach Paul Coffey is revealing he gave an ultimatum to Nurse in the offseason.

Darnell Nurse is supposed to be one of the Oilers best defenders with a $9.25M salary, but last year he set the record for worst plus minus in playoff history, and looked awful at times.

In a recent interview with the Got Yer Bacl Podcast, Coffey revealed he had two meetings with Nurse before this season where he gave his blueliner an ultimatum: he would give Nurse a leadership role, but he had to improve his play.

»We’ve had a lot of long conversations. We had one good one in the summer, one prior to training camp. I promised to deliver him a leadership role on the ice, but it came at a cost. I said you want the ice time? You got to play good.»

– Paul Coffey

Paul Coffey has had a phenomenal impact on the Oilers defence in the last two seasons, as recently detailed by Mattias Ekholm. However, if he can fix Nurse and get more out of the $9.25M man, he may single handedly win the Oilers the cup.

Darnell Nurse turns around his game after meetings with Coach Paul Coffey

Early this season, Nurse has played the best hockey in more than a few years. Fans and media have been thrilled to see Nurse making confident and office plays with the puck, just as Coffey always stresses.

The Edmonton Oilers will still target a top four defenceman in trade this season, but the improved play of Nurse could be a big difference maker for the Oilers in the playoffs.

Paul Coffey also spoke about his decision to return to coaching the Oilers this season after spontaneously joining on last season with no prior coaching experience. Coffey says the fire still burns in him, coming to the rink is still fun every day, and he’ll quit when it isn’t anymore.

It’s amazing to have a franchise icon like Coffey being the director of the Oilers blue line, a person who has true first hand experience of being an Oilers defender behind generational talent. He’s a major asset even without coaching experience, and the Oilers are so blessed to have him.