Edmonton Oilers star ranked as most overrated in anonymous NHL player vote

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Liam McCormick
January 31, 2024 (1:26 PM)

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Heading into the NHL all star break, the entire hockey world has an opportunity to decompress and also reflect on how the year has gone so far. It's also a great time to get some more fun content out of the players, including the anonymous player vote the Athletic published today. Through anonymous interviews, players were asked their thoughts on a variety of big questions around the NHL.

For the Oilers, two significant elements were found in the player vote. First of all, Connor McDavid was unsurprisingly ranked by most as the best overall player in the league. On a less positive note, Darnell Nurse was voted the second most overrated player in the NHL, behind Trevor Zegras. According to the Athletic, players singled out Nurse's contract for being far too much for what he brings.

Nurse, the second-leading vote-getter, meanwhile, was singled out more for his contract ($9.25 million average annual value) than for his on-ice value or hype.

�He's a hell of a player,' one player said. �I just think he makes the same as Makar, and that's kind of crazy.'

It must be disappointing for the Oilers and Nurse specifically to hear that he's one of the most overrated and overpaid players in the league, especially in an anonymous player vote. However, it does confirm the sentiment from a lot of the Oilers fanbase, who believe Nurse's contract to be one of the worst in the league.

Despite Nurse's bloated contract however, he can still be an effective player for the team. As long as the team has success and Nurse can mesh with the system and contribute to that success - who cares about his contract for now. The Oilers seem destined to make a long run in the playoffs and at the Stanley Cup, regardless of Nurse is overpaid or overrated.