Darnell Nurse has had some good years with the Edmonton Oilers, scoring 41 points in 2018-2019 season and 43 points four seasons later in 2022-2023. Since his first year with the Oilers in 2014, he has had average and below average years and certainly a gradual decline in point production over the past two years with a dismal -12 plus/minus rating this past year. He has had 14 points in 53 playoff games (0.23 points/per game or one point in every five games) in the past three playoffs years that includes two Stanley Cup finals appearances.
This amounts to one point in every playoff round just about which is clearly not to the level of a $9 million dollar defenseman. In comparison, Mattias Ekholm has had 18 points in 38 playoff games in the past three years or 0.5 points per game or one point in every two games and he makes $4 million per year! Evan Bouchard is truly an elite defensemen and should have won the Norris Trophy this year. In comparison to Nurse, Bouchard had 48 points in 53 games over those same 3 playoff seasons and is clearly worth paying north of $9 million a year.
It is very clear that Nurse has not been contributing to the team to his potential that would warrant his salary of $9.25 million per year. NHL Edge statistics clearly rank him in the below 50th percentile in many important categories for a defenseman. Thus, the many rumours of a Nurse trade that surfaced after the quick exit of the Edmonton Oilers in May are now reality.
What options do the Oilers have for a defenceman in free agency
I elaborated in a story in May about options within the Oilers organization and farm team for finding a defenseman ready to play for the next season. There are a few options but can they really play at the NHL level in 2026-2027 season? Or do the Oilers need to look outside the organization in order to find a suitable stay at home defense after Nurse departs?
Scoring is not an issue for the Oilers but defending is and the penalty kill was atrocious last season that bled into the playoffs. Ultimately, their demise in round one against the Ducks was because of a 40% penalty kill level against a team that had a terrible powerplay in the regular season. So, what caused this collapse in 2025-2026 season and how can it be fixed? Here is list of possible free agents this summer that could help the Oilers and create a more threatening defensive core:
Jamie Oleksiak He was the 14th pick for Dallas in 2011 and has proven to be a stay at home defenseman. He comes at $4.6 million salary and could fit into the Oilers system as he has size at 6’7 and 252. He is not afraid of going in front of the net, good skating skills, shoots left and could play with Ty Emberson, a right shot D-man. Edmonton needs a stabilizing, low maintenance defender to complement their puck movers and he could help. In Seattle, he played a lot on their #1 penalty kill unit and could help the Oilers improve their penalty kill especially after we lost Ceci, Kulak and Broberg I the past few years. I think he would check all the boxes that the Oilers need in a shut down defender.
Mario Ferraro is a 27 year old defenseman from the San Jose Sharks that is allowed to test the free agency market according to Sharks GM, Mike Greer. He is an energetic defenseman that played big minutes for the Sharks in most of his years there. He was a fixture on the Sharks penalty kill and a defensive-minded defenseman. He was ranked 18th in the league last year in shots blocked at 150 shots blocked in 81 games with an average 1.85 shots blocked per game. The Oilers could use a player not afraid of blocking shots as too many teams had clear lines to goalies last year in games versus Edmonton. Ferraro comes in at $3.25 million per year and could be a good young influx into their defensive core.
Brett Kulak and Vincent Desharnais are two that I do not need to talk about as they were two mistakes the Oilers management made in the past 3 years, especially letting Kulak go. Both are available this off season and I would pay both more than their current cap hit as they were seriously missed on the penalty kill. The Oilers should consider bringing them back and still have lots of cap space for more additions.
I have discussed some of the defense selections available in free agency in this article. A more comprehensive list can be found on Puckpedia.com.
Connections to Mike Babcock, a potential new coach for the Oilers
If the Oilers hire Mike Babcock as the new coach, he could bring a more structured defensive system to the Oilers. His past teams have had a low risk defensive system that focused on puck possession, five man support, and forechecking especially in the Stanley Cup winning Detroit Red Wings in 2008. We saw a similar style of play by the Florida Panthers against the Oilers in both Stanley Cup finals that saw the Florida Panthers beat them both times with a Babcock defensive formula.
Edmonton has demonstrated they can have an aggressive forechecking game when they collectively put their minds to it but they are far from being consistent. Under Babcock, players will be held accountable and be persuaded to play a five-man support and aggressive forecheck. The Oilers have shown us that they like to free wheel most of the time that usually pushes them to a chaotic system of play. Babcock will change this I think and given them structure.
Babcock’s coaching style would support a trade for Kulak and Desharnais as they are stay at home defenseman that would give structure to the Oilers. I do think the Oilers need to sign a coach before the NHL draft so management and the new coach can work together to find the required players needed to shape this team with consistent play. It is very clear that management alone picking players is not working. Whomever they pick, they have to be able to shape the defensive core into a working, consistent force against opposing teams. Someone like Babcock could give valuable insights into the players he needs to build the Oilers defensive game and he will make sure they perform to what his game plan is.
Can the Oilers fix the problems they have in the next month
The NHL draft day is only a week away. I speculated in a story in May that we may not get any picks from the draft that will help the Oilers now. We are in a “win now” mode as McDavid’s lifeline on the Oilers is shortening fast and maybe only down to two years and thus two tries at win the big prize. Stan Bowman and the new coaching staff have to work their miracles fast and make the players believe in themselves and get the team to the belief level we say in 2023-2024 when they went to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Florida Panthers.
We came so close to winning it all and we can again. The core is still in their prime (many but not all of them), they are now well rested after the May exit from the playoffs and should be driven even more to get to the playoffs in 2027 and to the Stanley Cup finals. Let’s hope we get players than can achieve that in the next month, including the Oilers new coach.
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