The Edmonton Oilers have been a team for several years that has struggled to stay cap compliant. That isn’t shocking by any means, as it’s a case many, if not most Stanley Cup contending teams find themselves in as they not only dish out big money to star players but also do their best to keep the rest of the roster competitive.
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Oilers fans learned at this year’s trade deadline just how difficult it can be to improve a roster when there is such little cap available. Rather than being able to land any star calibre players like a few other contenders were, they instead brought in defenceman Connor Murphy, centre Jason Dickinson, and a depth forward in Colton Dach.
While the three additions do make the Oilers a stronger team, they don’t raise the overall ceiling of the team the way fans were hoping. Given the money this team has committed to players such as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard, many don’t believe they will have much money in the future to make any massive changes, either. However, that may not entirely be the case.
Nurse Continues to Be Mentioned in Trade Talks
Over the course of the McDavid era, there have been some very bad contracts in Edmonton. Many still discuss what failures both the Milan Lucic and Jack Campbell signings were, and plenty of noise has already been made surrounding Trent Frederic, who is in only the first year of an eight-year deal.
While those three contracts were undeniably big mistakes, the one deal that has continued to cause the most headaches for the Oilers is Darnell Nurse’s. The 31-year-old blueliner is in year four of an eight-year, $74 million deal he signed prior to the 2021-22 season. That contract carries a massive $9.25 million cap hit, one which Nurse hasn’t at all lived up to.
The cap hit alone was enough to make many people criticize the deal right from the minute it was signed. Making matters all the worse is that it carries a full no-movement clause (NMC) through the 2026-27 season, before changing to a 10-team trade list on July 1 of 2027. What that essentially means is that Nurse controls his entire future until the end of the 2026-27 campaign.
With the Oilers having played in two-straight Stanley Cup Finals and still being viewed as a contender, many would think that Nurse would have no desire whatsoever to agree to waive his NMC that he was able to earn. Those same people are also forgetting just how much criticism Nurse faces on a daily basis.
Nurse’s contract has turned him into a whipping boy in Edmonton, and has had plenty of the fan base plead for him to waive his NMC. That criticism has only become louder this season, as his play has dipped even further. It’s gotten to the point that many point to his contract as the reason why McDavid and Draisaitl have yet to win a Stanley Cup.
The constant bashing wouldn’t be easy for anybody, even someone who seems to have as much self confidence as Nurse does. Should the Oilers be eliminated from the playoffs early this year, which is very much a possibility, that criticism will only continue to get louder.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, but the Edmonton Oilers discussed the possibility of moving Darnell Nurse,” David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period wrote over the weekend. “I can’t pinpoint how deep trade talks actually went, but that’s a name to watch this summer, NMC and all.”
There have been other whispers from media members covering the Oilers, which suggests there is some truth to this latest report. The other element in all of this is that if management were to ask Nurse to waive his NMC, he may view it as such a slight that he agrees to do so out of frustration.
Oilers Management Needs to Heavily Explore This Option
At the end of the day, it’s unclear as to what a trade involving Nurse would look like. Every GM around the league is aware of the fact he’s being overpaid. This could mean that the Oilers would need to retain money, or perhaps be willing to take back a bad contract. It could also result in them being forced to part ways with a draft pick or prospect.
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None of those situations are ideal, though neither is the current ongoing saga with Nurse’s contract. If the Oilers are able to find a willing taker this season, they should be doing everything in their power to move him, as freeing up that money may very well be what it takes in order to give McDavid and Draisaitl the support they need to finally win it all.
