If you’re wondering how far back Darnell Nurse goes with Kris Knoblauch, it’s 10 years, because Nurse was playing junior for Sheldon Keefe’s Soo Greyhounds in the 2015 OHL playoffs while Knoblauch was on the rival Erie Otters bench.

Nurse barely knew Knoblauch then, but he’s got a very good book on him now after Knoblauch, the 18th Oilers NHL head coach, just got that three-year extension. He’s a big fan, with Knoblauch the fifth coach Nurse has played for since the fall of 2015 — Todd McLellan (now in Detroit), Ken Hitchcock (a coaching adviser with St. Louis), Dave Tippett (a coaching adviser with Seattle) and Jay Woodcroft (Joel Quenneville’s Anaheim assistant) before the current head man.

What you see is what you get from Knoblauch.

“It’s great to see him around for so long. He’s br

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