Felicia Keller
San Jose wasn’t on Darnell Nurse’s original trade list.
He was looking for the Edmonton Oilers to trade him to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, or Boston Bruins.
But as he went through his process of what was next for him, the San Jose Sharks kept coming up.
“Talked to a lot of people that I respected in hockey, outside of hockey, and it’s crazy, because every time I brought up San Jose, even when they weren’t on my small list, everyone’s like, ‘You’d be crazy not to go there, it’s an amazing opportunity for you,’” he said.
Now, the 31-year-old left-handed defenseman is coming to San Jose, after spending his entire career in the Edmonton Oilers’ organization. Nurse has four seasons left on his current contract, with a $9.25 million AAV.
Nurse spoke on leaving Edmonton, what he brings to the San Jose Sharks, and more.
On why he wanted to leave Edmonton…
It was just time for a change. I had some deep roots, had some great moments, lots of great memories, some friends, some good experiences with the organization. But everything has a shelf life and expiry date on it, and this was my expiry date on my time in Edmonton.
On what is exciting about San Jose…
As time goes on, thoughts and feelings evolve as well. You look at the full picture of the league and the full picture of the players. I had the opportunity to play with Dickey (Sam Dickinson) and Mack (Macklin Celebrini) at the World Championships, and they brought amazing personalities and a lot of fun to the rink. At the same time, their compete level and a lot of the nuances that they had, they’re such high-skilled players, but you could tell that they were hungry and excited to play each and every day.
For me, if I wanted to change and go somewhere else, I wanted to go somewhere, it was exciting to play and add to the group. Meeting those guys and hearing some stories about the locker room and the team, and obviously playing against the team, and seeing the promise that they have made, with all shook out in the end, an exciting place to go.
On how he can help the Sharks…
One of my best attributes is transporting the puck and skating, using my legs. Defensively, same thing, using my legs and closing time and space. I’ve got a pretty big engine, too, when it comes to being able to play the minutes. So there’s a lot of excitement. I feel like that’s what I can add to the group.
As well as the leadership part – my goal is the same goal as all those guys in the room, because like a lot of those guys, I haven’t reached the pinnacle, so we’re all fighting for that. But I also have a lot of playoff experience, and a lot of experiences to lean back on. So, I feel like I can help in a lot of ways.
On what it means to play for Mike Grier, the first Black general manager in the NHL…
When I was growing up, you look up to the people that look like yourself, and for me that was Mike Grier, Jarome Iginla, there’s Georges Laraque, there’s so many examples. These were guys that I looked up to and wanted to get my foot into the NHL and show the way that black hockey players can be successful and have long careers. So it’s cool. At the time when you’re going through this process, you don’t really think about that. But I’m not going to lie, as you asked that question, he was definitely one of the players that I looked up to growing up.
On the leadership he and Jacob Trouba bring the San Jose Sharks and Celebrini…
This is my first time doing this, so I’ve never been through this whole trade situation, but Mack is going to be – he was drafted here, he’s been the leader of this team for a couple years now, and we come in and supplement with the leadership and the help. … You got to push each day to be better, and that’s where the growth comes as a group, when you’re all collectively working towards that common goal. You take time, you let everything grow naturally. Luckily, with the timing of this, you got, for me, a couple months until training camp hits, to build relationships, build my setup for the next season. So I think definitely going to use these next couple months before season hits to put down a good foundation, so that when camp starts and the season starts, we’re off running.
On the way things ended in Edmonton…
No one expects more of themselves than me…Joe from down the street can be mad because he can’t drink his beer and watch the second round of playoffs, but I live with each and every game, each and every moment, throughout the summer, and try to learn from it, grow from it…
When you have a high cap hit, there’s [criticisms] that were definitely warranted, my play warranted them. I would say there was probably a lot of things as well that probably weren’t warranted. And for whatever reason, I was the problem. That’s sports, that’s how it works…
Especially in big [hockey] markets, you’re never gonna sell newspapers, you’re never gonna be able to get the attention without going negative, and I think someone’s gotta bear the brunt of that.
For me, when you’re making a lot of money, and you’re not performing, like I said, there was a lot of moments that I felt like I needed to perform better, and I didn’t. But once you become that target, sometimes that target isn’t moving off you, so for me it’s a fresh start.
Watch the full interview here