Top 3 Worst contracts for Edmonton Oilers since 2006

D Darnell Nurse

A recent signing by the Edmonton Oilers that might prove to be a migraine down the road is defenseman Darnell Nurse. In August 2021, Nurse signed an eight-year $74 million contract extension with the Oilers, with an annual salary of $9.25 million. A massive jump from his previous 2-year bridge deal.

There is no denying the talent of the 6’4 Nurse, as he can put points for the Oilers, the problem is the massive cap hit and the length of the contract that he carries. Without diving deep into Nurse’s defensive stats, we saw how poorly he sometimes plays on his own end. Nurse is getting paid ‘superstar’ money, and he is expected to limit those mistakes and play as a superstar.

Compared Nurse to some fellow superstar defensemen contracts like Cale Makar (6 years $54 million) and Victor Hedman (8 years $63 million) and we are left scratching our heads as to why the Oilers gave that much to him. Those aforementioned defensemen are Norris award winners and Stanley champions and we expect Nurse to play near that plateau as he carries a big chunk of the Oilers’ salary cap.

This massive deal by Nurse might prove cumbersome to Oilers later on as they try to build a Stanley Cup-winning team. Luckily this offseason, general manager Ken Holland was able to maneuver some contracts around, with the recent retirement of defenseman Duncan Keith and putting goalie Mike Smith to LTIR. These situations will not present themselves for the following seasons, and it will be an issue for the Edmonton Oilers.