Trade rumors are in full swing this week as insiders dig deep for some info on what NHL teams might pull off this summer. As we inch closer to the offseason, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse finds himself hogging the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is set to have a sit-down with Nurse to check if he’ll waive his no-trade clause so Edmonton can more effectively maximize the $9.25 million cap hit he carries.
As it turns out, this may not be the first time the two parties have broached the subject.
Why Oilers Veteran Darnell Nurse Was Upset With Edmonton Brass
On Friday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Oilers bosses had a conversation with Darnell Nurse after the end of the 2024-25 NHL season.
“A year ago, Nurse had a very emotional season-ending interview with the team. They went to him (and a couple of other guys, all guys with no-trade clauses), and they said, ‘Would you be willing to move?’ He was upset that that got out. He said no, he wouldn’t, and we reported on this pod, and it became a big story out there. And Nurse was really upset about that, which is totally fair,” Friedman said.
“This year, they didn’t do that at the end of the year. They didn’t ask him, and based on Mark’s reporting, they need a bit longer to decide what they are going to do.
“The thing about Nurse is he’s a year away from his no-trade clause going from a full to a partial. It’s clear they’re going to say to him, ‘This is the last year you’ve got control, so do you wanna work with us or not?'”
The Oilers’ primary goal this offseason will be to strengthen a blue line that looked porous all season long, which explains their pursuit of Bruce Cassidy. However, doing it without shipping Nurse’s $9.25M cap hit out will be a Sisyphean task.
Edmonton figures to have about $16.4 million in cap space, counting Nurse on the books. However, they have a clear priority list of UFAs to target, starting with in-house names like Jason Dickinson, Connor Murphy, Kasperi Kapanen, and, potentially, Colton Dach. Names like Jack Roslovic and Connor Ingram will likely fall outside the Oilers’ price range, given the salaries they will command on the open market.
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There’s also the teeny-tiny little task of getting another top-six scoring option to take the load off Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers have been linked with St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou, but then again, absorbing his $8.125M cap hit will be a tall order if they don’t ship out Nurse’s contract.
All things considered, Stan Bowman has his work cut out for him in a year where McDavid’s two-year extension kicks in. Bowman will be on the clock the second the puck drops on the new season, given McDavid is eligible to sign another extension at the end of the coming season.
