Darnell Nurse injury timeline revealed by Edmonton Oilers insider

Nurse has been reportedly dealing with an injury, and the timeline for his return was previously unclear. However, Nurse has been skating with the team again, and could be cleared by the Oilers medical team near the end of the preseason.

It's good to hear that Nurse should be back for the regular season, because the Oilers blue line would be incredibly thin without him. Despite the reputation Nurse has and the struggles he's had in the last year, he's still often a very stable player on defence.

The Oilers can't afford to lose many players on defence, because their depth on the back end is very limited. The defence core is looking very different this season, and with the likely change that the Oilers sign another defender to a PTO it's going to be hard for Nurse to get acquainted before the regular season.

Nurse is going to be heavily leaned on again, for better or worse. He is going to have to be healthy so he can be a big presence on defence, because he is going to be given a big role again this season. If Nurse can be stable this season and lean in to what's expected of him, this could be a great season for Nurse to prove that he deserves a spot on the team.