The Sharks’ summer overhaul on the blue line included three notable additions, and Darnell Nurse was probably the one that raised the most eyebrows.
Nurse arrives from the Edmonton Oilers with a reputation that has been split right down the middle for years. On one hand, he’s been viewed as a reliable two-way defenseman.
On the other, his contract has fueled a league-wide belief that he’s one of the NHL’s most overpaid players. That chatter only got louder after a rough 2025-26 season that saw his play slip on both sides of the puck.
The numbers tell the story. Nurse played all 82 games and still finished with just 24 points, his lowest total since 2017-18, which was his first full season at the NHL level. He also ended the year as a minus player for the first time in more than half a decade, a detail that stands out even if plus/minus isn’t exactly a perfect modern stat.
Still, a new environment could matter here. At 31, Nurse is at a point where the big question is whether last season was the product of a player stuck in a situation that had worn out, or whether it was the first real sign of decline.
The read here is that 2025-26 was more of a blip than the beginning of a slide. In his first season in the Bay Area, Nurse is expected to land somewhere in the 35-40 point range, which would give San Jose a much better offensive presence from the back end than it had last season. If he can pair that with a return to his earlier defensive form, the Sharks should get real value from the move even with the contract attached.
In Other News...
Ducks Suddenly Look Vulnerable In A Race The Sharks Need
Anaheim spent the summer trying to rework its roster, but the changes may have left the Ducks thinner than they were a year ago. The club extended Leo Carlsson, brought in a comparable number of new faces and moved on from several pieces that helped shape last seasons team, leaving the sense that the incoming group may not carry quite the same weight at the NHL level.
For the Sharks, that matters because every team hovering around the same part of the standings is suddenly part of the same race. Anaheim does not look as settled as it did before the offseason reshuffle, and the possibility of beginning the season short-handed only adds another layer of uncertainty. If the Ducks are not as strong as expected, the path San Jose needs to climb gets a little less crowded, and that is exactly the kind of opening the Sharks will be watching. [Read more 🡒]