Insider Suggests Oilers Struggling to Find Trade Partner for Darnell Nurse

The Edmonton Oilers have been quiet on the trade front this offseason. Despite the team needing to trade Darnell Nurse, following his trade request, to clear up some cap space, they have yet to trade him and are seemingly running out of time before free agency opens up.

While the free agent class is a bit weaker this offseason, the Oilers would still likely prefer to have money to spend to improve their roster to fill several different holes. They need to acknowledge their goaltending situation, add a top-six forward, and may also benefit from adding a left-shot defender. They have a little bit of cap space right now, but they would be in a much better position if they found a way to move Nurse.

There have been several fits listed for Nurse, including the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, and Pittsburgh Penguins, who are reportedly on his trade list, while the Anaheim Ducks were recently linked to him as a team with interest in bringing him in, but he would need to clear it.

As we gear up for Day 2, some talk over Darnell Nurse. Anaheim, which isn’t on his list, is now being considered. Philly remains an option, as well.

Also on D market:
– some clubs talking to Ducks about acquiring John Carlson’s rights
– Isles have had teams ask about Romanov

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) June 27, 2026

Unfortunately, for the Oilers, it seems as though they might be having some trouble finding a trade partner for Nurse. There has been some speculation that they would prefer to get rid of Nurse’s full contract, of course, but that doesn’t seem to be something they will be able to do.

According to Darren Dreger, from a recent segment on TSN’s Insider Trading, the Oilers are struggling to find a trade partner at this time, saying, “Stan Bowman has exhausted negotiations with the [Darnell] Nurse camp.”

Dreger went on to mention that Nurse may need to expand his reported three-team trade list to be able to make a move happen, but as of right now, things don’t seem to be moving along very quickly.

Oilers Just Need Nurse Traded

While Oilers fans understand that Nurse is a fantastic person off the ice and has been a huge part of the community during his tenure with the team, everyone around understands that it is time to move on for both sides.

The Oilers are trying to contend next season and want to finally win their first Stanley Cup since 1990, and they need some extra cap space to bring in much-needed upgrades in several positions.

They can’t run back the same tandem of Connor Ingram and Tristan Jarry, but they need flexibility to decide how they want to go about their goaltending situation. As well, they need to target a scoring forward to take some of the pressure off of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl offensively.

They do have a bit of money, but targeting cheap players that come with risk simply isn’t an option this offseason. This could be the Oilers’ final chance in their current contention window to make a push for a Stanley Cup with their current core, and they need to take some big swings.

They can’t do that with Nurse on their payroll.

Fans aren’t naive to the fact that they may have to take some money back, whether in retention or with a contract coming back to the Oilers, but either way, the team understands it’s simply time for a change of scenery for both sides, and every penny counts.

Time will tell where he ends up, but at this point, it seems as though they’re struggling to find a new home for Nurse. However, it does still seem like a matter of time before Nurse is traded, it’s just taking a little longer than expected.

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