As Bob Dylan once said; "The times they are a-changin'". and fast, especially with the rise of the NHL salary cap. As it continues to rise, so too will player salaries and it is something that fans and media will have to become accustomed to.
So, when Elliotte Friedman indicates that the Edmonton Oilers may not have to retain salary on a rumoured trade involving defenceman Darnell Nurse, fans should not be too surprised. Speaking on the Fan Hockey Show, Friedman said "There's legit interest," adding “Edmonton had kind of indicated that they didn’t think they’d have to retain a lot, if at all.”
Given the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning completed a sign-and-trade on Thursday for defenceman Darren Raddysh, signing the 30 year old pending unrestricted free agent to an eight-year deal carrying an annual average value of $8.5 million.
Nurse's salary has aged well
According to Friedman and Mark Spector, Nurse formally submitted a trade request with the club he has spent his entire career with up to this point. Despite Nurse having a full no-movement clause in his contract, he has reportedly given the Oilers a list of three to five teams that he would waive to be traded to.
The 31 year old has consistently logged over 20 minutes per game for the past 10 seasons, proving his worth as a legitimate top-four defenceman in the NHL. Despite being involved in speculation and consistently taking on the role of the team's scapegoat, drawing the ire and criticism of fans, he has been a loyal member of the Oilers' core.
When Nurse signed his contract extension for eight years, worth $9.25 AAV in August 2021, it was worth 11.21% of the salary cap whereas for next season, with the cap rising to $104 million, it would be worth just 8.89%. At the $104 million salary cap, a cap percentage of 11.21% would raise his cap hit to roughly $11.65 million per season. He also has four seasons left on his contract.
Given how his cap hit has aged, it would make sense that Nurse would be able to fetch a solid return or at the very least would not be treated like a negative value asset. Especially with the weak 2026 free agent class and with the big fish in Raddysh now being taken off the market, it may just be the right conditions for the Oilers to cash in on a Nurse move.
If the Oilers, who have just ~$14.5 million in cap space available this summer, are able to clear more space to move Nurse, it could help them tremendously.
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