This week, rumors out of Edmonton are that long-time Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has requested a change of scenery. The Blue Jackets have been linked as a potential trade destination, but how realistic is a deal between these two teams?
Before we can get into the specifics of a potential hockey trade, we have to talk about the facts. Nurse's relationship with the Oilers has obviously soured behind the scenes, and to be honest, that isn't really a surprise.
A big part of that is the elephant in the room: he has arguably the worst contract in the entire NHL. In the shortened 56-game 2020-21 season, Darnell had a monster of a season. He scored 16 goals and 36 points, posting an impressive +21 rating while averaging 25:38 per night.
Of course, that happened entering the summer where he was eligible to sign a contract extension. That's the way these things go. The Oilers signed him to an 8-year extension that pays him $9.25 million against the cap. That extension still has four years left on it.
Nurse is the 11th-highest paid defenseman in the NHL, so the expectations are very high. Whether that's fair or not, it's just the fact of the situation. Playing for a team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations and being paid like a #1 defenseman sounds lovely.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case. The Oilers have been unable to climb over the hill and win a Stanley Cup to this point. A lot of the blame and vitriol has fallen squarely onto Nurse's shoulders. After all, his contract dictates that he should be a #1 defenseman.
Frankly, he has not been. At no point in his career has he been a true #1 defenseman in this league. On a contending team, he's probably best as a #4, or maybe even #5 defenseman. The contract that he signed looked bad the moment it was inked. It has only gotten worse in time.
Still, there are some redeeming qualities here that I think could be appealing to a team like the Blue Jackets. Really, if not for that big cap number, this is exactly the kind of defenseman they should be going after.
This is a good player for the right dollar amount.
At 6'4" and 215 pounds, the 31 year old Nurse is a physical specimen, a veteran of nearly 800 regular season games-and exactly 100 playoff games. He's not usually great with the puck on his stick, but that's not what this team needs.
They need someone who can be a physical presence and win puck battles in the defensive zone. He checks both of those boxes, as evidenced by his career-high 104 penalty minutes this season. He would be a near perfect replacement for Erik Gudbranson, who seems set to hit free agency.
If Don Waddell were to acquire him and pencil him into the third defense pairing alongside Dante Fabbro, I think the Blue Jackets could be onto something here. There is a lot to like about this player if you can get him in the $6.5-$7 million dollar range. He would still be overpaid by at least $1 or $2 million dollars, but that's a lot more palatable than the deal he's on now.
This team is already locked into Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov at a combined $18.5 million dollars for the next two seasons. We hope to see Werenski re-up, and don't forget about Denton Mateychuk, who will soon demand a massive increase over his entry level contract. The Blue Jackets are pretty well set down the left side, unless something changes. Even then, there is a pretty good prospect coming through the ranks.
Lastly, we cannot overlook one glaring omission to this point: Nurse has a full no movement clause. He gets to dictate his destination. He would have to want to come to Columbus, which is probably unlikely.
Even if Darnell Nurse wants to come to Columbus, a trade is hard to put together.
I think the Blue Jackets would have some interest in this player, if the feeling was mutual from the player. But, for a deal to work, they would need the Oilers to eat a pretty significant chunk of his salary for the next 4 seasons. And, they probably need to send a bad contract the other way.
I could see them offering up Elvis Merzlikins in that scenario. But even then, I think the Oilers need to add significant other assets to make this make sense for the Blue Jackets. Factually, they just don't have all that much that I feel would sweeten the pot enough to make it work for both sides.
So, in conclusion, I think this deal is probably too wild for either side. Of course, all of that can change with one phone call.
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