It seems like only a matter of time before the Edmonton Oilers trade defenceman Darnell Nurse.

On Thursday afternoon, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that the Oilers want to move Nurse “as soon as possible.” This just adds to the smoke around the 31-year-old left-shot defenceman since the Oilers’ season ended prematurely.

According to PuckPedia, the Oilers have a little over $14.5 million in remaining cap for next season, needing to sign a right-shot defenceman, a backup netminder, and several bottom-six players. They’ll probably have enough to do all that, but if they want to make a big splash, they’ll have to shed some more cap.

Nurse has a $9.25 million cap hit, so moving most or all of that cap space would be huge for the Oilers. While he has a full no-move clause for the 2026-27 season, this is Nurse’s final season where he has full control of where he ends up, as his protection drops to a 10-team no-trade list beginning in 2027-28.

Although the Nurse fatigue in Oil Country is high, he still has positive value. He eats minutes, is physical, and is capable of chipping in on the scoresheet. The 2025-26 season was the first time Nurse didn’t reach the 20-point plateau since his rookie season in 2015-16.

Of course, $9.25 million is a large cap hit for the type of player Nurse is. But with the cap floor jumping to $76.9 million for the 2026-27 season, as well as Nurse still holding value (with some salary........

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