With Darnell Nurse, one thing comes to mind above all else: A $9.25 million cap hit.
When his defensive lapses end up in the back of the net. When he takes an undisciplined penalty at an important time. When the Oilers’ maneuverability and cap flexibility are too limited to make meaningful improvements.
Nurse’s contract is far from the only problem in Edmonton. But it’s obviously a much more costly one compared to players such as Trent Frederic or even Tristan Jarry. And it looked like an overpayment on Day 1 of the contract.
That $9.25 million cap hit was worth 11.2 percent of the cap back in Year 1 of the deal in 2022-23. That’s territory for franchise cornerstones and elite talent. It sets lofty expectations that were impossible for him to ever meet.
Set the cap aside, though, and there’s still a pretty capable defender there, in the right role and usage. It just will never be a $9.25 million caliber one. A move from Edmonton may give him his best chance to prove that.
All signs were pointing to a breakup between Edmonton and Nurse this summer. The Oilers need to clear some contracts this summer, and his was an easy target. The player just beat management to the punch and requested a trade first. With a full no-movement clause, he has a lot of control in this situation.
Moving Nurse won’t be easy, especially if he puts strict restrictions on where he is willing to go. But with his request in the open, he could be a reclamation project for some.
What’s the blueprint for this kind of trade?
The new CBA complicates things. Edmonton can’t rely on a third team to play broker in this situation and just take on a chunk of his salary; 75 regular-season days have to pass between trades. So the bones of a Nurse trade all revolve around how much cap the Oilers are willing to retain. That’s really the only way for the Oilers to get any needle-moving return.
Take the Jacob Trouba deal. Anaheim absorbed all of Trouba’s $8 million cap for two years, but the Rangers only got a fourth-rounder and Urho Vaakanainen in return. Chris Kreider had more value and bounce-back potential, and only one year (at $6.5 million) remaining, but to clear that cap, New York only got a third and an iffy prospect.
Because Anaheim was willing to retain 38.5 percent of Cam Fowler’s deal, which had two seasons left at $6.5 million, the Blues’ return was a little stronger: A second plus a lower-end prospect.
Ideally, Edmonton would retain 50 percent and make him a $4.63 million man. Twenty or 30 percent is more realistic and could grease the wheels of a deal. Still, the Oilers may also have to take back a bad contract to move the needle here.
Why would teams be interested?
Nurse’s value has understandably plummeted over the past few years. The mistakes are less forgiving in Edmonton, considering its goaltending situation over the years. The Oilers’ deep runs over the last few seasons put those lapses even more front and center.
A playoff-caliber team can’t afford to have Nurse playing matchup minutes; he’s far too risky with the puck and undisciplined. His penalty differential has been in the negatives every single regular season of his career, and all but one postseason. The fact that the Oilers’ offense cratered in his minutes this year hurts his value even more.
His comps point to some dicey outcomes, too — Michal Rozsival, Derek Morris, Jake Muzzin and Erik Johnson are potential cautionary tales.
Separate the player from that $9.25 million contract, and get him out of Edmonton (where defense was a team-wide struggle most of this year), and there could still be something left to extract. Maybe he becomes the next Brayden McNabb and extends his career. A Brad Stuart path would be pretty neutral, too.
It just requires finding the right situation and partner. He needs to play with a partner with puck skills who can handle defensive-zone puck touches, such as retrievals and breakouts. Then, it’s easier to focus on what he brings. He’s battle-tested, hard-nosed and can absorb big minutes. Nurse has a long reach, can still burst up the ice with speed to join the rush, plays with an edge, kills penalties and can be counted on for leadership. General managers of playoff teams often look for players with exactly those qualities.
Nurse needs more structure around him and a simplified role as a No. 4 or five.
Past reclamation projects show potential. Fowler and Trouba upped their game with new teams. Rasmus Ristolainen has played some of his best hockey in Philadelphia because the team’s structure insulates him so much, even when he manages the puck poorly. Seth Jones’ game was revitalized in Florida, thanks to their defensive foundation and a role change from a No. 1 to a second-pair player.
So a change of scenery (and salary retention) could be a game-changer.
Which teams make sense as landing spots?
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks only have two defensemen signed for the 2026-27 season. RFA Olen Zellweger is bound to be the third. Pavel Mintyukov is a wild card, since his name was in trade rumors this year. If he’s not a long-term option, it could open space for Nurse on the left.
General manager Pat Verbeek has taken swings on big-name defensemen on the decline before, even with pricey contracts, such as Trouba. With that contract expiring, along with Radko Gudas and John Carlson’s, Nurse could be the veteran replacement.
The Ducks may have about $44 million in cap space for next season, but a lot of work to do. Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier’s new contracts could cost a combined $20 million (based on AFP Analytics’ projections). Plus, the team still needs to sign a few forwards and at least five defensemen. In the early stages of this playoff window, Anaheim has to keep the big picture in mind; Nurse’s contract in two or three years could become an obstacle. But with almost $13 million in cap space opening up in a year when Chris Kreider and Alex Killorn’s deals expire, and more entry-level talent likely joining the fold, the team should be able to balance the books with some retention.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks have some experience taking on the Oilers’ cap casualties. In August 2024, San Jose took on Cody Ceci’s contract and traded him (along with another cap dump in Mikael Granlund) to Dallas for a first- and a third-rounder.
This could work out similarly. The Sharks could help Nurse replenish his value as they did with Ceci, and then flip him at the deadline to a contender looking for cheap help on defense. The difference here would be that Nurse wouldn’t be a rental like Ceci was for Dallas. But it’s pretty much the only way to really get his salary down with the new retention rules. While there’s no traditional third-party brokering, the Sharks, at least, have experience being a middleman if need be.
The other option is just adding Nurse and keeping him for the season (or beyond), and figuring out the next steps when the time comes. The Sharks only have three defensemen signed for next year: Dmitry Orlov, Sam Dickinson and Luca Cagnoni. In theory, that could fill out the left side of the blue line, if those two young guns are ready for full-time roles or Mario Ferraro extends. If not, Nurse could fill that gap.
While the Ducks’ playoff window is officially open, the Sharks are on the verge of taking that next step. A reclamation project such as Nurse makes sense from a rebuilding perspective if Edmonton sweetens the deal. And his playoff experience could help as this team tries to turn the corner.
Los Angeles Kings
At first glance, L.A. may not seem like a fit considering the aging defenders the team already has locked up. The idea of potentially reuniting Ceci and Nurse, who are both older at this point, is diabolical.
But what if the Kings could move out the Brian Dumoulin contract ($4 million), or Joel Edmundson ($3.85 million), and swap in Nurse?
It makes sense for two reasons: Ken Holland, the general manager who signed Nurse, is running the Kings. Second, Peter Laviolette was just hired as head coach.
Laviolette’s system requires defensemen to be a lot more active in all three zones. It can be really taxing on players who don’t have a ton of speed. And as his New York tenure showed, he wasn’t exactly adaptable to the players he had on his roster. So it’s in management’s best interest to find skaters who can actually skate, such as Nurse, who would be an upgrade speed-wise on either Dumoulin or Edmundson. As much as Holland should be looking for younger, more dimensional options, he has his tendencies, and it’s to go after veterans such as Nurse.
Utah Mammoth
Shift to the Central, and one team could make sense as a trade partner: the Mammoth. Ian Cole is 37 years old. He’s also coming off a pretty underwhelming Round 1 series; the third pair of Cole and Sean Durzi were outscored 2-1 and earned a sub-37 percent xG rate. So it wouldn’t hurt to look at other options.
The Mammoth could actually come into next year with a completely new third pair, depending on how management plays things this summer. Dmitri Simashev and Maveric Lamoureux are both right-handed, so if either looks ready for the big leagues full-time, management could move out Durzi’s $6 million cap hit.
That may be the key to even considering Nurse; if there’s salary retained, pairing him with an entry-level righty could make for a more cost-effective third pairing than Cole and Durzi. That would give the team more room to upgrade their center situation up front. While Nurse obviously has some instabilities in his own game to work out, he’s a veteran presence who could help lead up-and-coming talent on the back end.
Philadelphia Flyers
Elliotte Friedman said on Friday’s 32 Thoughts that an Eastern Conference team could be Nurse’s preference. Pair that with Allan Mitchell writing yesterday that both Pennsylvania teams are rumored as favorites, and that brings up two more potential destinations.
Between Travis Sanheim (a lefty who can play both sides), Cam York and Nick Seeler, Philly has what it needs to fill out that side of the lineup. But say management decides to flip Ristolainen now that he is in the last year of his deal, which could open the door to someone such as Nurse stepping in.
The rebuild isn’t over after this team went on a modest run to the playoffs, so management still may want to cash in on Ristolainen while they can. The durability factor here for Ristolainen could also sway the Flyers to move him sooner rather than later. So could Nurse’s experience, and the fact that the Flyers know how to revitalize a risky defenseman within their system. He could be the exact type of player Rick Tocchet would appreciate in an up-and-coming lineup.
A Ristolainen move could shift Sanheim to his off side and open space on the left for Nurse. Or the team could keep Sanheim on his natural side and flip Seeler, whose no-trade clause expires on July 1. He is 33 years old, but his $2.7 million cap hit should be enticing to a cap-strapped contender.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins’ best course of action is just extending Ryan Shea to play with Parker Wotherspoon and Sam Girard on the left. Adding a 31-year-old with another four years doesn’t exactly line up with Pittsburgh’s process under Kyle Dubas, either.
Then again, Dubas did fleece the Oilers in the Jarry trade, and has history with Nurse, so maybe there’s something here — especially if it’s a means to shedding Ryan Graves’ $4.5 million cap hit for the next three years.
Pittsburgh really doesn’t need to make its blue line any older, but the team does have a lot of money coming off the books in 2027-28. Maybe this is the kind of contract that can help the team stay above the cap floor in the long run if the organization goes for a tear-it-down kind of rebuild. Or, maybe by then, Nurse will have regained some value to be traded again to a playoff team in need, too.
Columbus Blue Jackets
A left side of Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov and Nurse, even with money retained, would be pricey. But with Erik Gudbranson’s $4 million cap hit expiring this summer, Nurse with retention wouldn’t be that outlandish — especially not in today’s NHL that has been overpaying the middle class.
The Blue Jackets should have the cap space to absorb part of Nurse’s hit, extend Adam Fantilli long-term and fill out the rest of the lineup. Maybe there’s a way for the Blue Jackets to actually make cap space in the process, too.
What if a Nurse deal allows the team to clear Elvis Merzlikins’ $5.4 million AAV? He could be an interesting 1B in Edmonton if the Oilers can find a way to dump Jarry’s remaining two years.
