Should The Oilers Think About Trading Darnell Nurse?

The Edmonton Oilers are officially at the halfway point of their season following a loss to the Colorado Avalanche in their 41st game on the season, bringing their record to 21-17-3. While the team put in a good all around effort, there were still some very clear issues on the back end that seem to just be getting worse and worse as the days go on.

On August 6, 2021, the Edmonton Oilers signed Darnell Nurse to a massive eight year, 74 Million dollar contract extension worth $9.25M a season. With the 2022-23 season being his first year making the big bucks, he had a lot to prove to fans that questioned the decision from the beginning. Through the 41 games he’s played this season, Nurse has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points. Aside from having a solid offensive side, Nurse can play big minutes every night. In fact, he currently leads the team in average time on ice per game with 24 minutes and 6 seconds.

The issue for the Oilers all season has been their defensive play, and Nurse is no exception. While he hasn’t been bad, he lacks the consistency you look for in your number one defenseman. Nurse can be a strong two-way defender that carries the puck at the right time, makes the right pinches and gets shots off that don’t get blocked, but he hasn’t been having a good stretch of games. With the team fighting for a playoff spot at the moment Nurse needs to be a leader and step up, and so far he hasn’t. Luckily, we’ve seen this type of bad stretch from Nurse before and he always snaps out of it, so I’m not too worried.

Oilers fans are bound to get mad at some point and they have, with some calling for the trade of Nurse to get rid of his contract, but it’s not that simple. While yes, putting almost 10 Million dollars into a player not named Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl is risky, the team believes in him. Nurse brings leadership on and off the ice, as we’ve seen him drop the mitts every now and again to defend his teammates or just to simply get them going. Trading him would clear up some cap space, but there are a lot of things to consider if they even think about moving him.

Nurse almost makes 10 Million dollars for the next eight seasons, and he has a NMC throughout his deal. There is almost no team in the NHL that would be willing to take on that type of deal without some sort of retention on the Oilers side, and it makes no sense to pay someone to play elsewhere for eight years. Another factor would be how it affects the dressing room. It’s no secret the Oilers are making a plan to re-sign both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl when their contracts are up in the next few years, so the management team is being very careful of who they bring in and move out. Moving out Nurse could have an affect on both players, making them both upset and thus want to leave.

There is a lot to consider and we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. What we do know is while this may not be Nurse’s strongest season ever, he’s still playing big minutes and putting up a good amount of points with little to no power play time. He’ll be a big piece going into the playoffs, and trading him would be an awful idea. He’s a leader, he puts up points and he brings a physical presence to the backend, something you won’t get on a nightly basis from many other players.