Edmonton Oilers' Nurse could miss start of playoffs with suspension
More bad news could be on the way for the Edmonton Oilers.
With the team already reeling with injuries to multiple key players, they may be down another top defenceman, Darnell Nurse. No, he isn’t injured or sick, but he could be suspended after delivering a gnarly crosscheck to LA Kings forward Quinton Byfield in Monday night’s 5-0 loss.
Nurse was given a five-minute major and kicked out of the game for the play.
Darnell Nurse was issued a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking Quinton Byfield. pic.twitter.com/J7yFs492ce
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 15, 2025
Byfield was injured on the play and left the game following the cross-check. There is no word on how seriously the Kings forward was injured or if he is in any danger of missing Game 1 of the playoffs against the Oilers.
Regardless, Nurse is expected to have a hearing with the NHL’s Player Safety Department, which could result in a suspension. The Oilers have just one more regular-season game left on their schedule, meaning any suspension over one game would bleed into the playoffs.
Edmontonās Darnell Nurse will have a hearing tonight for cross-checking against Los Angelesā Quinton Byfield.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 15, 2025
Nurse has been suspended just two times in his career, both times because of fighting. The first came back in 2016 and cost him three games for acting as the aggressor in a fight with Roman Polak.
His last suspension was during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs after he instigated a fight with Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Nicholas Hague in the final five minutes of a game. That caused him to miss one playoff game.
Edmonton cannot afford to have Nurse miss even one playoff game in their opening series against the Kings. The team is already without Mattias Ekholm and will need Nurse to step up in a big way if they want to go on another run.