This situation has many unknowns. Please read this.
Based on Mark Spector’s article, Stan Bowman does plan on speaking to Darnell Nurse in the days to come (“sources confirm” verbal in the article), and Nurse may well say no to waiving his NTC. That’s what I would do. First conclusion: The Edmonton Oilers may not be able to make the deal this summer.
Based on what we know about general managers, the individuals acquired by Stan Bowman leading up to this morning are likely to be part of the future. That means Jake Walman moves up to second pair and Spencer Stastney plus Damien Carfagna or Atro Leppanen slide on to the roster this fall. That’s if Nurse is dealt.
I wrote about Nurse at The Athletic today, chronicling the journey from promising start to what is now obvious (the Oilers want him gone). There were mountains of mistakes made along the way, and each general manager holds some responsibility. Chiarelli advanced him too soon, Holland gave him a contract that predictably became an albatross, and Bowman is giving him a chance to find a fresh start.
You know, it can’t be easy for Nurse to contemplate leaving this situation in Edmonton. This is his hockey home, the foundation of this team saw its beginning with Nurse, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at Orientation camp in the summer of 2015 at old Northlands Coliseum. Nurse is a bright fellow, he has bled for this team and this town. Any individual would have a lot of emotions at this point in his career.
If he does agree to waive, most fans see the San Jose Sharks as the obvious trade destination. The Sharks don’t have much on defense, but they have a pile of youth that could use a veteran with the ability to play at the top of the depth chart. Nurse is young enough to hang around for the rest of this decade and beyond, hell with his skating skills the best may yet come.
I think it’s possible the Sharks land him, but I’m not sure fans will like the return. The article from Spector leaves little room for management to rebuild a bridge, so the final season in Edmonton could be difficult for all involved. Possible assets heading back include Logan Couture’s contract, which I believe would allow the Oilers some freedom to spend the money elsewhere and place Coutuer on LTIR. I don’t see much in free agency, but the Oilers could make a trade and bring in someone like Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues.
The offseason is far more interesting today. If I’m Darnell Nurse, I decline the opportunity to spend the next four seasons in San Jose.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll talk to Steve Lansky about the Nurse situation and the SCF. We’ll also chat CFL weekend, Jays and more. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Why Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse is at a crossroads in Edmonton
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7333022/2026/06/05/edmonton-oilers-darnell-nurse-trade-crossroads/
“If I’m Darnell Nurse, I decline the opportunity to spend the next four seasons in San Jose.”
You wouldn’t want the opportunity to have SOME control over your family’s life?
He has a 10 team no trade starting next July, so he still has some control. But there’s certainly a big difference in control from a 10 team no trade list compared to giving the Oilers a list of 3 or 4 choice destinations.
It’s gotta be a tough on him though. He’s been genuinely good friends with these guys for so long. He’s dreamt of winning a cup and the team is a contender. And on top of that, he’s got a young family. A lot of people would put a lot of value in kicking the can down the road for one more year.
He has control over his family’s life now. The idea that this is somehow convenient for Nurse isn’t logical.
Considering the Nurse family just had a new baby a few months ago, I expect Nurse will say no. It is easier to move when the kid is a year old than a few months.
A 10 team no move list, carefully selected, is still pretty restrictive.
Jackson and Bowman have shot themselves in the foot again with their media campaign to trade Nurse. They are running out of toes.
Nurse has probably figured that he is likely to outlast Jackson and Bowman in Edmonton.
Pagnotta with reports that the Oilers are willing to offer Cassidy 5 years and over the $4.5MM he makes per year on his current deal.
The potential contract terms the Oilers would be willing to offer Cassidy is not a non-factor here.
Not compete agreements and clauses are often subject to challenge and often found not to be enforceable and my understanding (as I’m no licensed in Nevada, nor an employment lawyer, I do corporate finance) is this rings true in Nevada.
One key is that the employee remains compensated for the term and, of course, that is in place. At the same time prohibiting future and increased income can be a factor and Vegas holding Cassiy at 1 X $4.5MM when he could get 5 X $5MM, for example, could render the clause unenforceable.
I’m sure the owner’s legal team is all over this but, of course, any legal challenge would not be done in time to help the Oilers.
while I understand it might just be negotiating tactics, and a 5 year contract makes no sense for a coach with one, maybe two options – I wonder if any team has ever paid 3 head coaches a salary at the same time. Looking at 28/29..
Tide, following up about <url=https://lowetide.ca/2026/06/03/holding-pattern/#comment-1433095>this comment</url>. Please explain!
Red Wings later traded him to the Canadiens for Garry Monahan. Another Sam Pollock fleecing. I have the story in an old Hockey News, it was front page at the time. You’ll have to take my word for it, but I will try to find and post it as part of a story if I do find it.
It seems to me that this is a lose lose scenario for the Oilers. Nurse is overpaid- this is consensus. Nurse doesn’t have great hockey sense (I don’t think this can be argued). Nurse plays a significant amount of minutes and doesn’t miss time (unlike Walman).
He is a serviceable 2nd pairing d man who makes some bad decisions and tries to do too much, getting him into trouble at the worst possible times. But also is well liked by leadership, and won’t garner a ‘fair’ return for what he brings due to his inflated contract.
Lose scenario 1: Keep him. He continues to underperform his contract limiting the team’s ability to add any significant pieces to extend the window to win.
Lose scenario 2: Trade him. Due to his contract, the return will likely be awful and they will likely need to move Walman up into the Nurse spot on the roster. Walman, imo, played worse than Nurse this past season, and has a tendency to get hurt, and he makes 7×7, another egregious contract. What will they have to give up to rid themselves of this contract is the question? And do we trust this current management to make a good decision with the money they clear from this trade? Scenario 2 scares me more than Scenario 1- this reminds of the Skinner trade and that makes me very nervous.
We are likely overthinking this (as we do with all Oiler situations!). In the end, if management feel Nurse is contributing to winning games/series, keep him and find savings elsewhere.
If they do not feel he is bringing the required level of value/expectation to the ice, find someone who will.
The money conversation certainly muddies the water, but it isn’t the primary topic. Performance is. Winning is.
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
While Cole Caufield thought he was surprising Nick Suzuki with the Selke, it was Suzuki who was also waiting to surprise Caufield with the 2026 Lady Byng Trophy.
Caufield is the first Habs winner of the Byng since Mats Naslund in 1988, as voted by
the PHWA
Not bad for an undersized shoot first Hobey Baker winner.
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Habs Nick Suzuki is the 2026 Selke Trophy winner as voted by
the PHWA
Suzuki captured 151 of the 198 first place votes available and won in a landslide. There were 53 different players who received at least one vote.
terrible hit piece by Spec. Nurse was hurt in playoffs the year he’s talking about him maybe being a scratch. Do we all recall how bad Ekholm was in the ’25 final?
Nurse has his warts, but Murphy and him were a solid enough pair and is the main reason I’d bring Murphy back.
Nurse plays games and eats minutes. That’s tough to replace.
THe player to move is Walman. Massively overpaid, and his high mark for games in a season is 63…SIXTY – THREE!!!
Or are you comfortable rolling with an injury plagued, short fused, lacking hockey sense dman as Nurse replacement.
What Spec’s hit piece misses about his reduced playing time in the 24 final is ..
“Nurse sustained an undisclosed injury in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final after taking a hit from Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues in the first period”.
Could be why his play suffered and time was cut, but of course doesn’t fit the narrative.
Since the bulk of the problem seems to be his contract, can he not re-negotiate at lower number? I think “most” fans of the team would love him at 4 million.
Been a fan of this team since Jim Harrison and Jack “The Farmer” Norris days. One thing remains constant. When we turn on a player, we are incessant. I call it the “Tom Poti” routine.
He cannot renegotiate until the end of his contract?
Players can’t really renegotiate their contract. Particularly in Nurse’s situation where he has been paid more money than his cap hit so far and has $7.4M/year owing over the next four years. In that situation, the league would not likely approve a mutual termination. They definitely would not let the Oilers re-sign him at any point in the next four years. Aside from Nurse having millions of reasons not to just throw away a bunch of money.
The decision for Nurse is to force the Oilers to keep him one more year as he has a NMC and see what happens when it becomes a 10 team NTC next June or accept a trade to a team he might actually want to go to. His wife is also from Ontario and he’s got three kids 5 and under right now. Is one shot at a cup more valuable than choice of where your family lives? That’s a difficult one.
There have been some rumblings that McD would be upset to lose Nurse. But McD can’t have it both ways. The team needs a shakeup in certain positions (in large part due to inept GMing) and this is the quickest way to do it. Will it work? I don’t have a great deal of confidence.
However, when you look at the team that lost to Carolina in 2006, the only superstar on the team was Pronger. A few deft moves during the season/deadline, and the team hit on all cylinders. Culture, systems and hard work can go a long way
I think the Oilers have tried the “let’s add what we think McD wants” with his agent becoming CEO, junior coach becomes head coach, didn’t send down Pickard because the team liked him, he wanted Duncan Keith to come here, they added “name” wingers like Jeff Skinner instead of players suited to that role, let him play the whole 2 mins each PP, 25 mins+ a night, etc.
I think the Oilers are at the point where keeping McDavid’s friends vs. fielding a winner has become the choice and I think they only really lose McDavid if they can’t win.
I hope so!
Despite despising Vegas, they have thrown out the ‘loyalty’ book and are singularly focused on winning – and it is working. I don’t endorse that extreme, but with our top end talent we should be able to summit the mountain with average players and better systems/buy in.
Trading Nurse for a bag of magic beans will be the end of this team, as it stands now. You absolutely cannot start the season with Jake Walkman on the second pair. He has NEVER played a full season. He’s played 63 games twice in his career. That’s it folks. If they trade Nurse and the team regresses, it will alienate the core and will likely result in McDavid leaving. There is a world where trading Nurse improves the team, but I have zero faith in the ability of mngt to pull it off. The endless leaks coming from this team, and the treatment of the coach and Nurse, screams unprofessional incompetence.
Change for change’s sake would be very Oilers but going back again and again with the same approach and the same flawed players holding back the team as a whole…if the opportunity is there you have to move Nurse imo. Yes it could go badly but the Oil are plain stuck here and now and I have zero faith in Nurse elevating his game in the postseason. Year after year it’s been the opposite.
I don’t have an issue with trading Nurse. Trading him for cap relief and spare parts will make the roster weaker. Full stop. They will have a gaping hole at 2LD and aging 1LD. I think the media leaks are a red flag about the competence of this mngt group.
That Nurse money could be used to bring in two $4-5M defenceman and we’d have better coverage across the roster.
Sure, so who are those 2 defensemen?
Also, we could nearly say the same about Walman. Punt his $7M and find a 3LD and 2RD with the money.
A nurse trade, depending on what cap comes back or how much the Oilers retain, conceivably allows for an upgrade on Stastney at 3LD – perhaps even a Kulak…….
As LT alludes to, let’s not discount Carfagna and Leppanen as options this coming season. No, we can’t go on to camp with either pencilled in as 6D or even 7D but both have NHL runway and could impact the lineup this season.
Other teams have obscure d-men pop and make impacts, maybe it’s the Oilers’ turn – Leppanen has legit offensive skill and came a long ways defensively and Carfagna is a very solid all around d-man who is smart and can transition the puck – if only he had a couple more inches and 12 more pounds or a few extra MPH in his stride.
I don’t think Lepannen has eliminated the chaos. Carfagna apparently defends, so maybe him. Puck moving yes, more chaos no for me. Especially in an undersized package
Wishful thinking. Let’s hope it all works out.
Yes, definitely, some wishful thinking and I did say neither can be even pencilled on to the team to start. At the same time, they are both substantial AHL d-men and have a chance to play in this league. I see d-men pop up with no pedigree all the time – it has to happen for this org at some point.
If only we had a “Kesserling” . Didn’t like a third and Kesserling (who was just starting to come on) for a Bjugstad rental at the time. Looks worse in hindsight
I’ve commented this many times.
I was boosting Kesselring for over a year prior to that trade – I was displeased to say the least at the time. Most didn’t give 2 craps about Kesselring (but have no issue criticizing management for it year later with hindsight – not saying you are doing that).
Nurse for Rielly makes a lot of sense for Toronto. Add in something and get Hildeby in the deal too. Maybe the Leafs would be willing to trade Stolarz or Woll as part of a larger deal.
The Leafs could roll out Tanev and Nurse as a pair.
Nurse Tanev
McCabe Ekman-Larsson
How about from an Edmonton perspective?
I see Reilly as a poor fit in EDM and his strengths are redundant.
I am the last remaining fan of Darnell Nurse.
I don’t see how Nurse for Reilly helps the Oilers
Isn’t it fun watching the horrid officiating in the SCF?
I think San Jose would be a great place to play.
Nobody is too invested in the Sharks, other than Neil Young.
Sunny Cali, going to work in shorts, zero fan pressure… imagine the weight off his shoulders, playing in peace with no one looking over his shoulder at every paycheque, questioning his worth?
The airplanes stop flying overhead at 10 PM, so that’s good for the kids.
Mike Grier seems to know what he’s doing and Once an Oiler, and all that.
Nurse could do a lot in the community to promote hockey with urban yout’s.
If the Sharks have any interest at all, Nurse should run to sign the NMC waiver.
And they have Celebrini which keeps it interesting
If I had to pick a core group that will win the cup my first choice would be the Celebrini Sharks. Add Chase Reid this year, Nurse should indeed run to waive his no move.
They also got their franchise goalie in an astute trade.
My theory on Nurse is that the change in system from man to zone hurt him more than anyone, and perhaps isn’t even the right fit for this roster. I can see why they moved to hybrid zone; Vegas ripped them apart.
Seravalli mentioned in his interview the other day that the genius that is Eric Tulsky, has now found a new inefficiency among his peers. The fact that Rod plays an aggressive man-to-man defense while the majority of the league has moved to a zone or hybrid-zone means there are certain players that won’t play to their best in the zone that’s become so ubiquitous. K’Andre Miller was used as his example of someone that looked like crap in the Rangers system only to be able to use his size and skating to its full extent in Carolina.
Sound familiar?
I don’t know what every team in the league plays but I know Carolina and Montreal play man. Don’t be surprised if some smart team that plays man defense goes and grabs Nurse and he returns to his peak impact.
Note, this doesn’t mean the Oilers shouldn’t move him. They totally should if Cassidy or another “zone coach” gets hired. But if they have any interest in moving to Man (which might also be better for McDavid and Draisaitl) they should hold off.
Kandre miller looked horrible in New York as you note. He looks like Norris caliber now. Very good.
One main difference between kandre and Darnell is that Kandre can pass very well and thinks the game very well with the puck.
Without the puck they may be comparable.
Trouba also looked horrible in New York compared to Anaheim.
It was Lav’s system according to Alan May. It makes players look bad and they don’t like it
I think you may be onto something by expected goals nurse 2/3 best playoff runs came in 21/22 and 22/23 when we had the man defence. For Regular season War those two years were his 2nd and 3rd best
What would Vegas do? I’m a Nurse fan. I own a Nurse jersey (one of the nasty orange that just wasn’t as attractive as the 2017 playoff orange) and I am sentimental about the man’s journey with this team. It’s important for me to remember though that part of the rough deal Nurse got along the way was a massive overpay that he will never justify on the ice. We got game seven heartbreak and he got 8 figures. Vegas wouldn’t even be thinking about this stuff, they would be finding the partner, thanking Nurse and getting it done. If Bowman manages to do the same, I will be happy to see the team and the player move on, but you know – I mean YOU KNOW, that if Nurse is in San Jose next year they will be a playoff matchup for the Oilers and we will see some of Nurse’s best play in Rogers come in a white jersey.
The nurse situation reminds me in some ways of the trouba situation.
In New York trouba was horrible looked too slow for the league. After a somewhat forced change of scenery he became a very good nhl player that was valued by his team and fans.
I believe the oil will trade nurse…. Just too much baggage now. Once he’s traded I believe he could become a player that the oilers would love to have back. I wouldnt be surprised if he becomes reguvinanted on a new team and system.
The fans will want him back which seems to be the MO. He isn’t going to become a more heady player at this point though. There was the quote that Spec had about wanting to be an offensive D, I have thought that for a long while. On a Bouchless team he could play more to that role, the Oilers need him to be like McNabb, keep it simple and be effective. He’s not likely to do that though
But will he become a 9M player? Cause that’s the crux of it.
rev.hans: Thanks for the response last night. Have a good one!
This Nurse situation is really frustrating (coming from someone who has complained a lot about Nurse in the past).
Not even trying Nurse at forward before trading him away feels like “not trying Ingram before trading for Jarry”. We have Nurse, try him at forward and if that doesn’t work, trade him mid-season… it’s not as though the return this offseason will be great so there’s not much to lose.
Nurse is not a winger and sure not the solution, his passing and offence IQ once he transports the puck into the ozone layer(his big plus) will not translate to a winger. Also 9 mil as a winger you really need to deliver and hes closer to delivering that as a dman which hes still overpaid to do
Spot on with both points K.Kause.
The more I think about it, I’d try Nurse on the LW if he is willing to.
At worst you put him back on Defense, at best you get a power forward that can forecheck like a demon, punish D men chasing down the puck and can out race other players to the puck a lot of the time.
He isn’t Dustin Byfuglian but there is something to the thought of trying 5-10 games of it and see how it goes.
Nurse doesn’t have the in tight puck skills to be a forward to me
He struggles with knowing what to do when he gets in the ozone already and his passing is weak dont see how that translates as a forward
Sharks LD:
Dimitri Orlov
Sam Dickinson
Shakir Mukhamadullin
Mario Ferraro
Luca Cagnoni
Sharks RD
–
–
Eric Pohlkamp (recently signed NCAA grad)
While Orlov and Mukhamadullin have played on their offside out of necessity, the Sharks are very likely to focus on acquiring RD.
Most mock drafts have them taking a RD with second overall pick but all of Chase Reid, Keaton Verhoff and Carson Carels have committed to the NCAA next season.
Not sure Nurse would be a very good fit there and Mike Grier has not been shy about working young players into the NHL lineup.
Yeah, no.
Oilers would probably get Orlov in any trade for Nurse. At least that’s what was previously mentioned. But Who knows where the truth is?
Does that make sense for the Sharks.
Orlov has one season remaining at nearly $3 million less than Nurse who has 4 seasons left.
A Sharks beat writer has outlined some potential acquisitions:
https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/mike-grier-free-agency-trade-targets/1936048/
There is also considerable speculation the Blues want to move up in the draft and might dangle Colton Parayko and Jordan Kyrou to do so.
Parayko’s cap hit is a much more manageable $6.5 million and of course he is a right shot.
Firstly, Parayko has already stopped one very public trade out of St.Louis as recently as the trade deadline. While I recognize that Nurse is essentially in the same position, he is more unique in that Nurse has only one more year of complete trade protection, Parayko has two. The blues can dangle him out there better than Hemsky could, and it wouldn’t matter a lick unless Parayko wants to move and all evidence points that he doesn’t. For the record, Nurse might not want to move either, but there is at least some chance he wants a fresh start, and total control of his destiny.
Also, looking at that depth chart, Nurse is very clearly the best defenseman there right now, and likely for 2 or 3 years. Orlov is expensive and fairly one dimensional, and besides, he will be 35 next season, where Nurse will only be 31. Its not the same cover, especially if Nurse comes fairly cheap.
You’re basing those assumptions on San Jose having zero success in shoring up their D through other means.
Not only do they have the second overall pick, which Grier has said he is willing to move for the right deal, and the 20th but they also have close to $45 million in cap space should they choose to buy out the final year of Logan Couture’s $8 million contract.
Should Parayko again balk at a trade there are a few other options available as noted the article I linked to.
Nurse, at his cap hit, would be well down the list.
In some ways, but you’re basing those assumptions on the idea that Nurse has no interest or value. Seth Jones has shown the blueprint of an overpaid defenseman miscast on his original team, and finding success with a fresh start, so there is a real possibility that Nurse could do the same. Grier is a smart GM and could see that potential. Not to mention with their abundant cap space, its not like it would overly harm them to overpay slightly for a defenseman that fits their criteria.
The other Dmen in the article you mentioned also have warts, and their desireability is subjective at best. Dougie Hamilton and Reilly are both equally as expensive as Nurse, so that means they are at least as low as Nurse on the list. Nurse himself is on that list, and so he is no worse than the 6th option right now. Andersson and Hronek would represent a real upgrade on Nurse at reasonable costs, but there is no reason that I can see that either would be available and the article itself mentions that, and so that places him at number 4.. Nemec and Raddysh are interesting options, but both are uncertainties, in that Raddysh has had a career year and Nemec is still only 22. Both are risks, but good bets, and I’d put them as good targets (albeit not a sure thing).
John Carlson is 36 and a risk at that age, although with a strong track record. He might be a better fit for the Sharks if they’re looking for experience, and Trouba is in a similiar position as Nurse, with the same age range, leadership experience with a different style. I would think Trouba might be a better option, but that might depend on his favourability of returning to the West coast again next year, or heading back to the East coast.
So based on the article you shared, I would say Nurse is at worst, the 5th most likely candidate for the Sharks to pick up. Maybe not the best, but certainly not the worst.
Friedman on the pod this morning, for the first time, indicates that the Oiler may decide to stop waiting for Cassidy. He also opined (personal opinion/spitballing) that maybe the Oilers look at a coach for one year – I don’t know what that would look like.
1 year: Bruce Boudreau?
I think Bruce would have more success as a WWE analyst than the Oilers coach next season.
Perhaps Mr. Coffey takes the reigns?
Coffey with huddy as assistant. They’ve been know to work well together.
And NO!
NO!
Zero chance of that (in my opinion).
I for one think there are better targets out there. So I’m not upset at this turn of events.
But its pretty funny that this super awesome plan that everyone endorsed blew up in their faces.
I’m not sure there are better options – Cassidy’s top attributes seem to be exactly what this team needs and I don’t care if he grates on players, they can deal with two years from now in two year.
I’m not sure why any Oilers fans would think this is funny…..
Spitballing.
I’m OK with a potential lineup worries Nurse on the basis that Jake Walman is a legit 2nd pairing d-man. Let’s put missed time and reduced time playing through injury aside.
I still think it’s unlikely it happens given any market would be so small – likely 1-3 teams I would suspect. The negative value given the cap hit is real (without retainment) although Hart says long term contracts have more value given the rising cap – and Nurse is easier to trade than a few years ago.
I admire your optimism. I’d point out that in his career Jake Walman is injured a lot.
Will that frequency increase or decrease with age?
Jake has averaged 59 games per season over the past 5 seasons.
Who’s going to play 2nd pairing LHD for 23 games per year?
Who’s going to play 1st pairing LHD if an aging Ekholm misses any games?
Keep Nurse… fix the relationships, re-sign Murphy.
One of Walmans injuries last year was a bone bruise. That’s pretty random although I don’t know if his other injuries are something that could be reoccurring.
Walmans build is not one that’s usually injury prone… big thick lower body…
I believe walman can be a top pairing long term d man. My hope is the injury history is not a forecast for the future but the injury list is getting long.
I acknowledge that and don’t discount it (although “put it aside” for the purposes of the post).
There are some players that have been healthier in their 30s than their 20s…. Crosby comes to mind but, of course, I that’s not the norm.
Oilers would need a LHD in return, whether a second pair or solid third pair guy.
You absolutely can’t put missed games aside. He has never played a full season. This isn’t a plan. It’s wishful thinking.