The NHL Trade Deadline is in the past, but that does not mean rumors around players being traded are done. The Edmonton Oilers were one of the teams that made some moves at the deadline, such as the Oilers trading away Andrew Mangiapane in a deal that brought Jason Dickinson to town.
Now, it is being reported that another player was almost traded away from the Oilers, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, but the Edmonton Oilers discussed the possibility of moving Darnell Nurse. I can’t pinpoint how deep trade talks actually went, but that’s a name to watch this summer, NMC and all,” Pagnotta wrote.
Darnell Nurse was the seventh overall selection of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Oilers. He broke into the NHL with the franchise in the 2014-15 season, playing two games that year. He became a full-time NHL player in 2015-16, playing 69 games with the club that season.
Nurse has played 781 games with the Oilers overall, scoring 88 goals and adding 233 assists in his time with the club. He is also the third-longest tenured player on the Oilers, behind Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl. While Draisaitl has played nearly 200 more games with the franchise, they debuted with the team just a week apart.
The blueliner is in the fourth year of an eight-year extension that he signed with the Oilers in 2021 and took effect for the 2022-23 campaign. He also has a no-movement clause on his contract for both this season and next. This means that Nurse would need to approve any move by the Oilers, and that would extend into the offseason as well.
The Oilers are 32-25-8 on the season, placing them in second in the Pacific Division after a big win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night. Nurse and the Oilers return to the ice on Thursday against the Dallas Stars.
