The Oilers are in the Western Conference Finals, but there's one glaring issue with their team, and now Connor McDavid has addressed Darnell Nurse's struggles. At this point, it's no secret that Darnell Nurse and his $9.25M cap hit are a hinderance to the success of the Edmonton Oilers, but in the playoffs, it's become even more obvious. His struggles have hurt them immensely, but that doesn't stop the teams belief in him, according to captain Connor McDavid at least. <q>(Nurse) is a big piece of our room, McDavid said. Plus minus, I know it's a funny stat. But he gives us everything he has and always has for a long time. He's big part of our room and I'd expect him to have a great one tonight.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1795846041998385631'> </a></blockquote></div> Head Coach Kris Knoblauch echoed McDavid's sentiments when addressing the veteran defenseman, revealing that he and the team know and expect Nurse to play better though. <q>I think there's still more for him, I think he can play better, Knoblauch said. The way he checks and covers the ice - I don't know anyone in the NHL who is able to get around the ice as quick as he can and close plays off. He's so efficient at that...I think that's his strongest attribute. For him to play well, that's something he has to be doing every shift. Darnell can play better.</q> Through the 15 games Edmonton have played this post-season, Nurse has a -12 rating, while teammates Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm have absolutely excelled on the back end. With his deal keeping him locked in for the Oilers for quite some time, they need to find a way to make this work with Darnell Nurse, but at least for now, the team remain confident in him. Source: Hockey Feed <a href='https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/connor-mcdavid-sounds-off-on-struggling-darnell-nurse?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3YtOVbhbJsgFGxMv6yxTGRRX2i25IKFtzZmhJ2r8gBRSxryrUHRcY9qaY_aem_AcjSwtpilqj7RylRJrR3ROEF9W8px-evL4lmb7yMGPmjhjBd2WIbKvKgGATgf4SG9AD_y0rDXGNzJ1j2-fJEO3KK' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Connor McDavid sounds off on struggling Darnell Nurse</a>