Pundit Suggests 2 Surprise Trade Destinations for Oilers’ Darnell Nurse

The Edmonton Oilers will be trading Darnell Nurse, and it seems like a matter of when, not if, the team will be moving on from him. There were reports that Nurse requested a trade and agreed it was time to move on, and with that in mind, fans around the league began to wonder what a potential trade could look like, considering Nurse’s massive $9.25 million cap hit.

There are fans who believe the Oilers have to attach several assets to dump Nurse’s contract, and there are fans who believe the Oilers could get assets back in any deal sending Nurse out, considering this offseason has a weak free agent class, and several teams will be looking to improve their blue line.

Nurse, who is 31 years old, scored seven goals and added 17 assists for 24 points through 82 games last season. Throughout his career, he has scored 88 goals and added 236 assists for 324 points through 798 games, and also has 100 games of playoff experience, in which he has 29 points.

Nurse has already been connected to several teams, including the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, but a recent article from Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet suggested two surprise fits for Nurse, the Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets.

Boston Bruins

In his article, Dixon suggested a Nurse for Mason Lohrei swap, writing, “A swap like that would give Edmonton another big body back, and the Oilers could determine if they like what they see with one season left on the 25-year-old Lohrei’s contract before he becomes a UFA.”

Dixon continued: “For the B’s, Nurse fits their tough-to-play-against identity and would give them another huge body to slot on their blueline with Nikita Zadorov. Boston has a decent amount of cap space and doesn’t really have any pressing contracts to get done this summer, so fitting Nurse in — especially if you’re deleting one or two smaller contracts in the swap — wouldn’t be much of an issue.”

When the report of Nurse’s trade request first came out, the Bruins weren’t considered a team that Nurse was willing to waive his trade protection for, but considering he could be joining a team that will be in playoff contention next season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could be open to accepting a move there, if they show interest.

Winnipeg Jets

Dixon also mentioned the Jets as a potential trade destination, writing, “The logic is basically this: if the Jets can’t find a dream solution for their 2C hole, maybe you double down on defence and acquire Nurse as an over-qualified third-pair guy. He could slot in beside promising youngster Elias Salomonsson, a right-shot defenceman who’ll likely miss a bit of time at the start of the year due to shoulder surgery.”

He continued on, writing, “Nurse would bring some much-needed heft to the group.”

The Jets also weren’t a team that anyone believed Nurse was willing to waive for, considering the Jets aren’t expected to be making a push for the playoffs next season, but Dixon’s logic made sense, since adding a veteran defender wouldn’t hurt if they miss out on adding another one of their needs.

At the end of the day, the Oilers will be trading Nurse at some point, and he has leverage in deciding where he will end up playing next. The Bruins and Jets both make sense for different reasons, but everything from Dixon was hypothetical, and there are no indications that either team has approached the Oilers to discuss a potential move.

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