This in from NHL insider Frank Seravalli, talking to Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now about the NHL trade market and how it might relate to the Edmonton Oilers trying to move out second-pairing d-man Darnell Nurse.
Said Seravalli: “As teams really put the pedal down to try and make things happen, a common refrain that I heard today was teams are calling around asking for players, and the response has been, ‘Well, yeah, I might consider moving that guy, but I don’t want to create any holes on my team.’ And I think that’s where the Darnell Nurse situation is pretty interesting for the Oilers. That’s one situation for a team that’s out there that could improve with Darnell Nurse without really having to give up a whole heck of a lot, and probably nothing at all from their current roster. So that’s one area of advantage that the Oilers have is they have a commodity that they’re ready and willing to move on from. It’s now mutual. And they’re trying to take that space and leverage that elsewhere to improve this summer.”
Market Dynamics Favor Oilers
It sounds to me that the same NHL free agent market that hammered the Edmonton Oilers so hard when it came to signing up Darnell Nurse in the summer of 2022, driving up his contract to $9.25 million over eight years, could now work in favour of the Oilers when it comes to moving out Nurse and getting a decent return, let alone having to swallow any kind of major poison pill.
Limited Supply of Defensemen
There are only a handful of Top 4 d-men available as Unrestricted Free Agents right now, namely Darren Raddysh, John Carlson, Rasmus Andersson and maybe Brent Burns, Ryan Shea, Brett Kulak, and Jacob Trouba if you’re stretching. Not only is there not high quality in the d-man market, there’s not a lot of quantity, with few useful NHL d-men period on the market.
At the same time, the NHL’s salary cap has just shot up to $104 million, giving most teams far more room to spend. Add up both these things and it’s a seller’s market on d-men, which will help the Oilers in moving out Nurse, but hurt them when it comes to retaining Connor Murphy and bringing in additional help on defence.
What Would Nurse Get as a Free Agent?
What would Nurse get if he were a free agent this summer? $7 million per year over five years? $8 million per year over four years? He’d get close to what he’s now making in Edmonton, I’ll suggest, as there would be numerous teams interested in him, creating a bidding war. On the trade market, Edmonton has fewer options in moving out Nurse, just a short list of teams, but all Edmonton needs is two or three who are keenly interested to create a solid market for Nurse.
Teams with ample cap space also won’t feel pinch in taking on Nurse’s cap hit, another bonus for Nurse. His salary in terms of real dollars is also an Edmonton advantage, with Puck Pedia reporting he’ll make $8,000,000 next year, then $7,200,000 the next three years, which, again, is likely what he’d get as a free agent.
