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Troubling Trend: Internet Reacts As Pressure On Oilers' Darnell Nurse Reaches Boiling Point

Darnell Nurse is taking a beating from both Edmonton Oilers fans and analysts as frustrations mount over his sluggish start to the season. By no means has he been the only problem on this roster, but his detractors are pointing to alarming defensive metrics, a lack of offensive impact, and costly penalties that have magnified Edmonton’s early struggles.

With three goals and seven points in 21 games, Nurse is a plus/minus of -8. He's playing over 20 minutes per night, and the Oilers need him to be better. 

After Monday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, where Nurse was among the more problematic players in a very lacklustre group of Oilers, social media had a heyday discussing how his play has fallen well below expectations for a top-four defenceman — especially one carrying a massive contract ($9.25 million per season).

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Thanks to his contract and tendency to do too much on the ice, Nurse has often been polarizing. However, the vitriol has intensified as the numbers continue to look less favorable as the season rolls along. Nurse is being outplayed in nearly every situation, fueling debate about his role, usage, and future with the team.

Frankly, the pressure has reached a boiling point, and the reaction across Oilers Nation is nothing short of fierce. 

Zach Hyman’s Return Gives Oilers Major Boost Against HurricanesZach Hyman’s Return Gives Oilers Major Boost Against HurricanesZach Hyman returns from a five-month absence, expected to rejoin the top line and spark the Oilers' offense against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Kevin McCurdy: "So being a guy that loves to torture myself with numbers, I was just doing some poking around NST. Darnell Nurse w/o 97 and 29: ZERO GOALS FOR AND ELEVEN AGAINST."

Jesse Corville Lynch, "Trading Darnell Nurse solves every issue the Edmonton Oilers have. #LetsGoOilers" His post led to several comments in the thread about how Nurse's contract is untradable and that the Oilers are stuck with one of the worst deals in the NHL. 

Paul Almeida writes, "Nurse should be sitting right now. July 1. 2027 can’t come fast enough when Nurse's contract goes from a full NMC to a modified NMC with a 10-team no-trade clause."

PuckMarks writes, "Darnell Nurse has been absolutely brutal so far this season. He’s not generating his usual offence, getting caved in defensively and taking way too many penalties. This contract is truly disastrous and keeps having worse and worse consequences."

Author of Connor McDavid: Hockey's Next Great One, Rob Soria: "The most troubling part with this Oilers lineup, no matter who Nurse plays with...he looks terrible. The blue line as a collective has been poor to start the season, but Darnell is hitting new lows."

Jonathan Willis: "From 2022-25, 153 NHL defencemen played at least three hours in 4v5 situations. Seven of them were on the ice for more goals against/hour than Darnell Nurse. 145 of them were on for fewer."From Mr. Bandana: "At some point, maybe someone with a microphone will talk about the fact that Darnell Nurse has been on the ice for 188 scoring chances against so far this year That is the second most in the entire NHL. No other Oiler is in the top 20."

Jonathan Willis: "From 2022-25, 153 NHL defencemen played at least three hours in 4v5 situations. Seven of them were on the ice for more goals against/hour than Darnell Nurse. 145 of them were on for fewer."

From Mr. Bandana: "At some point, maybe someone with a microphone will talk about the fact that Darnell Nurse has been on the ice for 188 scoring chances against so far this year. That is the second most in the entire NHL. No other Oiler is in the top 20."

Darnell Nurse is struggling for the Edmonton Oilers and fans are tired of it. Photo by  © James Guillory Imagn Images

Add it all up, and it’s clear the heat on Nurse is real, intense, and growing. Fans used to suggest his lack of a true top-four playing partner might explain his inconsistencies. The narrative has flipped, and now Nurse is being blamed for the shortcomings of the pairings he's on. 

Whether he rebounds — or becomes a bigger storyline this season — is now one of Edmonton’s biggest questions. As Edmonton stumbles through another uneven stretch, the veteran defenceman has become a focal point of frustration — and the numbers behind his play aren’t helping his case.

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Giants reportedly decide new pitching coach hire after J.P. Martinez exit

Giants reportedly decide new pitching coach hire after J.P. Martinez exit originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

New Giants manager Tony Vitello’s coaching staff is coming together, with San Francisco reportedly deciding on its new pitching coach.

The Giants are hiring Justin Meccage to replace J.P. Martinez in the role, FanSided’s Robert Murray reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the situation. Meccage most recently spent last season with the Milwaukee Brewers organization as the Triple-A Nashville Sounds pitching coach.

Martinez had hoped to stay with the Giants, per NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic, but he ended up taking a job as the bullpen coach for the Atlanta Braves after five total seasons with San Francisco and one as the team’s pitching coach.

“With nothing being a guarantee [in San Francisco] for J.P., I think he took the bird in hand,” Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey told reporters last week at the annual General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas. “We were still going through the process with him. We hadn’t told him that he was not going to be returning. I’m a J.P. fan and had a good talk with him when he took the [Braves] job. I told him I think he’s going to be successful and maybe we’ll see him down the road.”

Now, Meccage will join first-time MLB manager Vitello as a first-time big league pitching coach himself. The 45-year-old joined the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 2011 as a minor league coach before being promoted to minor league pitching coordinator in 2017. He was named Pirates assistant pitching coach from 2018-2019, then became the bullpen coach in Pittsburgh in 2020 until the organization let him go after the 2024 season.

Meccage takes over a Giants staff featuring perennial Cy Young Award contender Logan Webb and two other locked-in starters, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp. The rest is up in the air between MLB free agency and others within the organization like Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Trevor McDonald and Hayden Birdsong.

San Francisco also reportedly is set to hire Toronto Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense to replace Pat Burrell as the team’s hitting coach, The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon reported last week, citing sources, and former San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler is joining Vitello’s staff in a role yet to be determined.

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Kyle Hendricks, who helped Chicago Cubs win 2016 World Series, is retiring

CHICAGO — Kyle Hendricks, the right-hander who helped the Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series and end a 108-year championship drought, is retiring, the team announced.

The 35-year-old went 105-91 with a 3.79 ERA over 11 seasons with the Cubs and one with the Los Angeles Angels. He was an All-Star in 2016, going 16-8 with a major league-best 2.13 ERA. He pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings as the Cubs lost World Series Game 3 to Cleveland 1-0 and 4 2/3 innings in Chicago’s 8-7, 10-inning win in Game 7.

“He was one of the best all-time Cubs pitchers,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “We would not have won the World Series without his incredible 2016 season where he won the major league ERA title and started Game 7 of the World Series. The Professor was always calm, cool and collected on the mound but his great performances excited millions of Cubs fans. From his outstanding playoff starts in 2016 to his memorable final appearance at Wrigley Field in 2024, he gave our fans sweet emotions.”

Hendricks attended Dartmouth and was nicknamed “The Professor” because of his college background and reliance on hitting spots with a changeup and sinker in an era dominated by hard throwers.

The Cubs acquired Hendricks from Texas for Ryan Dempster at the 2012 trade deadline. He made his major league debut two years later and went 97-81 with a 3.68 ERA in 270 starts and six relief appearances for Chicago with 2014-24.

He signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Angels last November and was 8-10 with a 4.76 ERA in 31 starts, including a loss to the Cubs at home in August.

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Fantasy Basketball Stock Up Stock Down: Daniss Jenkins seizing opportunity with Pistons

We’ve made it through Week 4 and are rapidly approaching the one-month mark of the 2025-26 NBA season.

Injuries have remained a topic of conversation, but they’ve led to some more opportunities for other players to navigate bigger roles. Some have led to fantasy basketball success, and others have not. Nonetheless, there is stuff to analyze. Let’s dig in.

NBA: Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs
Victor Wembanyama Calf Strain: Spurs’ outlook and fantasy impact
The Spurs will be without Wemby for at least 2-3 weeks after he strained his left calf.

→ Watch the NBA Coast 2 Coast Tuesday on NBC and Peacock: The Grizzlies take on the Spurs at 8pm ET, followed by the Suns at the Trail Blazers at 11 pm ET. Both games are available on Peacock. Check your local listings for the NBC game in your area.

STOCK UP

Daniss Jenkins — PG, Pistons

Everything is going right for the Pistons these days. Even with some recent injuries to key players, they’ve reeled off 10 straight wins and gotten production from players who many would least expect. Case in point: Daniss Jenkins. The second-year player out of St. John’s entered his sophomore season with all of seven career regular-season points and 23 minutes to his name. He doubled those scoring totals through the first four games of this season before abruptly posting averages of 21.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.5 three-pointers over the most recent four games. He’s started in place of the injured Cade Cunningham, but even when the superstar guard returns, it could be difficult to cut too much into Jenkins’ playing time.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker — PG/SG/SF/PF, Hawks

Here’s another player whose stock is on the rise; although this one is a bit less surprising, given what the Hawks offered to get him in the door this recent offseason. Enjoying a career-best season in a newer role, Alexander-Walker has hit the 20-point mark in three of the past five games and continues to post career-highs in assists. More opportunities have presented themselves in Trae Young’s extended absence (knee). Still, NAW has averaged 17.0 points per game in his five appearances this season alongside Young. If Alexander-Walker’s three-point shooting can start to come around, the breakout season will only get better for the two-way guard.

Moussa Diabate — C, Hornets

Diabate has found a home in Charlotte after a couple of forgettable seasons with the Clippers to begin his career. Now part of a young Hornets nucleus, he’s proven to be an important member of the nightly frontcourt rotation. Diabate has mostly come off the bench and attacked the glass hard — he’s recorded at least 10 boards in five of the last eight games while scoring in double figures in four of those five, consistently placing him on double-double alert. Diabate leads the Hornets in rebounding, and with his activity on defense, he could be a reliable streaming option or potentially a roster-worthy player in fantasy leagues if he can grow into an even larger role.

NBA: Atlanta Hawks at Utah Jazz
2025-26 Fantasy Basketball Top 200 Rankings: Wemby injured, Jalen Johnson providing value in Atlanta
The Hawks forward has exceeded the expectations of many fantasy managers this season, especially after Trae Young went down.

STOCK DOWN

John Collins — PF/C, Clippers

Not a lot has gone according to plan for the Clippers early in this season. Injuries to Kawhi Leonard (foot), Bradley Beal (hip), and, more recently, Derrick Jones (knee) have hurt them, but opened the door for guys like Collins to step into greater roles and potentially provide more production. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for Collins. Since moving into the starting lineup, he’s averaging 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 0.0 assists on 39.1 percent shooting. Perhaps his fit will be better once Leonard makes his way back to the floor. But until then, Collins is trending in the wrong direction at a time when all of his talent is needed in Los Angeles.

Zach LaVine — PG/SG/SF, Kings

After a strong start to the season in which LaVine had averaged 29.2 points and scored at least 30 points in four of the five games, he’s suddenly become a player whose production is difficult to predict, which isn’t dissimilar to the Kings’ other big-name players. LaVine has failed to make it out of single figures in scoring in two of the last five games and has only averaged 18.0 points per game in November. The interesting part here is that his shooting efficiency has remained high, but he has seen a big decrease in his attempts. It’s hard to get a feel for what exactly Sacramento is trying to do, as the team struggles to find solutions to end this current six-game losing streak. Regardless, this isn’t an ideal situation for those fantasy managers who have LaVine rostered.

Nikola Vučević — C, Bulls

The Bulls’ hot start was a fun early-season story. As they’ve cooled off, so too has Vucevic, whose numbers have dropped from 19.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game in October to a 13.4/8.8/3.3 line across November's eight contests. His 50.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc was always going to be unsustainable, but his 25.0 percent over the last three has led to some rough scoring outings. Can he regain his early-season form? There aren’t many backup center options behind him in the rotation that would eat away at his minutes. Still, it's fair to wonder what level of production the veteran can sustain. Stock down.

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AP player of the week is No. 1 Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, who shined in true road win over Alabama

The senior forward had 19 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in his season debut, an 87-80 victory at then-No. 8 Alabama that catapulted the Boilermakers back to No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The senior from Sellersburg, Indiana, was just the third player in at least the last 30 years with at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a top-10 matchup. Kaufman-Renn followed up with 17 points and 15 rebounds in a 97-79 victory over Akron on Sunday.

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Suns at Trail Blazers predictions: odds, recent stats, trends, and best bets for November 18

The Phoenix Suns (8-6) head to the Moda Center to take on the Portland Trail Blazers (6-7) on NBC and Peacock at 11 PM Eastern.

Phoenix had its five-game winning streak snapped in a two-point loss on Sunday to Atlanta (124-122). The Suns started the season 0-4, then proceeded to win eight of the next 10 games.

Portland was the opposite. The Trail Blazers started the season hot with a 5-3 record, but have dropped four of the past five games with consecutive losses. After a five-game road trip, Portland is back at home where they are 3-2 and last beat the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Let’s dive into tonight’s matchup and find a potential sweat or two! We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff. Odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.

After 24 years, the NBA is back on NBC and Peacock, combining the nostalgia of an iconic era with the innovative future of basketball coverage. The NBA on NBC YouTube channel delivers fans must-see highlights, analysis, and exclusive and unique content.

Game Details and How to watch the Suns vs. Blazers live

  • Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025
  • Time: 11 PM EST
  • Site: Moda Center
  • City: Portland, OR
  • Network/Streaming: NBC/Peacock

Rotoworld has you covered with all the latest NBA Player News for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!

Game odds for the Blazers at the Suns

The latest odds as of Tuesday courtesy of DraftKings:

  • Moneyline: Suns (-142), Blazers (+120)
  • Spread: Trail Blazers -2.5
  • Total: 236.5

That gives the Trail Blazers an implied team point total of 119.5 and the Suns 117.5.

Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!

Expected Starting Lineups for the Suns and the Trail Blazers

Suns

PG Devin Booker

SG Ryan Dunn

SF Dillon Brooks

PF Royce O’Neale

C Mark Williams

Trail Blazers

PG Shaedon Sharpe

SG Toumani Camara

SF Jerami Grant

PF Deni Avdija

C Donovan Clingan

Injuries for the Trail Blazers and the Suns

Trail Blazers

G Scoot Henderson (hamstring) is OUT for Tuesday's game

G Jrue Holiday (calf) is doubtful for Tuesday's game

Suns

G Grayson Allen (quadriceps) is OUT for Tuesday

Important stats, trends and insights ahead of Suns at Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

  • Portland is 0-5 ATS in the last five games
  • Portland is 6-7 ATS overall this season
  • Portland is 0-1 ATS as a home favorite
  • Phoenix is 4-2 ATS in the last six games
  • Phoenix is 1-4 ATS as a road underdog, ranking 2nd-worst
  • Phoenix is 9-5 ATS, ranking tied 7th
  • Portland is 10-3 to the Over, ranking second
  • Phoenix is 6-6 to the Over, ranking tied 6th-worst

Rotoworld Best Bet

Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) leans the Suns as a live-bet:

"Portland is on a 0-5 ATS streak as the market started to over rate this team. Phoenix on the other hand is 4-2 ATS in the past six games and climbed above .500 with an 8-6 record. My pre-tip pick for this would be the Suns, but there would be live betting opportunities to get a better number than the +2.5 or +3's being offered."

Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.

Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.

Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.

Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Trail Blazers & Suns game:

  • Moneyline: Suns ML (high confidence)
  • Spread: Suns +5.5 (low confidence)
  • Total: Under 236.5 (low confidence)

Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today’s calendar!

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!

Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:

- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)

- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)

- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)

- Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)

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Dodgers need an outfielder. Cody Bellinger is a free agent. Could a reunion be possible?

New York Yankees Cody Bellinger talks to reporters at Yankee Stadium in New York, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Cody Bellinger is coming off a 29-homer season with the New York Yankees and is a free agent. (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

The Dodgers need an outfielder. Cody Bellinger is available.

So, eight years removed from his Rookie of the Year arrival, six years since his 2019 MVP campaign, and three years after an unceremonious end to his Dodgers tenure, could the team and its once-beloved homegrown slugger actually reunite this winter?

It’s not impossible, with the Dodgers believed to have Bellinger on their radar as they evaluate their options in free agency.

In an offseason of wide possibilities, but thus far tempered expectations from the Dodgers’ front office, Bellinger represents something of a wild card in the team’s potential winter plans.

Read more:Why Dodgers are already thinking about endurance test that awaits in 2026 three-peat bid

He is not the top outfielder on this year’s market, which is headlined by former Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Tucker and the $400 million-plus bidding war he is expected to trigger.

But, for a team like the Dodgers, Bellinger could be a better (and more familiar) fit, providing the kind of positional versatility and financial flexibility someone like Tucker wouldn’t.

Granted, the seriousness of the Dodgers’ interest in Bellinger, which was first reported by ESPN, remains unclear. But the mere possibility will make it one of the more intriguing early subplots of the winter, representing one potentially splashier option for the club to consider in pursuit of 2026 roster upgrades.

To this point of the offseason, of course, the Dodgers have signaled a reluctance to add more lucrative, long-term, free-agent contracts to their steadily aging core. It’s shown up in their pursuit of relievers, with their preference seemingly being a shorter-term deal after being burned by big bullpen spending last year. It has also influenced the way they’ve viewed the outfield market, cooling summer-long expectations that they would be leading contenders in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes.

After all, the Dodgers have two starting outfielders currently on their roster in Teoscar Hernández (who is entering the second of his three-year, $66 million deal) and Andy Pages (who is coming off a 27-homer campaign in his second MLB season). They have plenty of depth options at the position, from Alex Call to Ryan Ward to the versatility provided by utility players Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim (and maybe even backup catcher Dalton Rushing, who could experiment in the outfield again in 2026).

Los Angeles Dodgers' Cody Bellinger bats against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Cody Bellinger was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2017 and the NL MVP in 2019, but struggled in his last few seasons with the Dodgers. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

They also, importantly, have a promising wave of outfield prospects expected to reach the majors in the next 2-3 years, a group headlined by Josue De Paula (the top prospect in their farm system); Eduardo Quintero (their 2025 minor-league hitter of the year); Zyhir Hope, Mike Sirota, James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard (promising talents acquired in trades over the last two years); and Charles Davalan and Kendall George (recent first-round draft picks).

The team would still like to add another outfielder, likely of the left-handed-hitting variety, to the mix in 2026. It is hopeful of finding an improved replacement for Michael Conforto, after his woeful performance on a one-year, $17 million deal last season.

At the same time, though, the Dodgers want to preserve their longer-term flexibility at the position — making their odds of giving someone like Tucker the 10-year contract he is expected to receive appear dubious at best.

Bellinger, however, provides a different free-agent proposition.

He is a couple of years older than Tucker, set to turn 31 next season, but is also likely to receive a contract of roughly half the length and much less guaranteed money; pegged by most projections to be in the 5-6 year and $150-$175 million range (though he could reasonably surpass those figures if his market materializes well).

Crucially, Bellinger also offers positional flexibility. At present, he can play all three outfield spots, and remains a plus-defender in the corners. Down the line, he could eventually shift to first base, making him (for a team like the Dodgers) a potential future successor to Freddie Freeman.

Another key factor: Bellinger is a much different player than he was when the Dodgers declined to tender him a contract at the end of the 2022 season.

Back then, Bellinger was coming off two straight years of subpar performance in the wake of a shoulder surgery following the 2020 World Series. Between 2021 and 2022, he hit .193, struck out more than 27% of the time, and had an OPS+ of 66 (an advanced metric in which 100 is considered league average).

The last three years, on the other hand, have seen the former MVP winner stage a mid-career revival. While playing for the Chicago Cubs (who signed Bellinger ahead of the 2023 season) and New York Yankees (who traded for him last offseason), he hit .281, struck out just 15% of the time, and had an OPS+ of 125. Last season, he also hit 29 home runs, his most since collecting 47 in his 2019 MVP season.

Granted, Bellinger did benefit from the hitter-friendly environment at Yankee Stadium, where he had 18 of his long balls last year. He also does not hit the ball as routinely hard as in his peak years with the Dodgers. Yet, he has improved his approach, honed more consistent swing mechanics, and balanced out his platoon splits, batting .353 against left-handed pitching in 2025.

Those strides served as a reminder of Bellinger’s tantalizing talent, as well as a sign of his growing maturation as he enters his 10th year in the majors.

The question now: Whether it will all be enough for the Dodgers to make a legitimate run at bringing him back.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani wins fourth MVP award, joining Barry Bonds as only player with more than three

The nature of free agency, of course, means Bellinger is still likely to land elsewhere this winter. He is expected to field wide interest on the open market, starting with the incumbent Yankees (especially if their other free-agent outfielder, Trent Grisham, turns down a qualifying offer). The Dodgers, meanwhile, remain better positioned to explore the trade market for an outfield addition, possessing the kind of highly-rated farm system that could make them a factor for everyone from Steven Kwan to Brandon Donovan to Jarren Duran.

If Bellinger were to attract his own bidding war, the Dodgers would likely be reluctant to overpay (at least in their view) for his services.

But for now, the possibility of a reunion does at least seemingly exist — thanks to Bellinger’s versatile fit, recent resurgence and lingering familiarity with the franchise.

Years removed from his breakout, then flame-out, during his first tenure with the Dodgers, he could wind up in their winter plans again this offseason.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.