Elliotte Friedman revealed this morning a detail that severely limits the market, and Darnell Nurse has officially agreed to a trade from the Edmonton Oilers.
The team that acquires him will almost certainly not be a Canadian club, and the preference, according to Friedman, is a destination in the Eastern Conference.
“I’ve heard the preference is east, and not likely to be Canada,” Elliotte Friedman said of Darnell Nurse’s trade request.
Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa are immediately excluded from the discussion as a result. All three would have interest and space in the cap. Apparently, none of them are in play.
Simply because of the cap number, this is a difficult transaction. Nurse’s cap hit is $9,250,000, and the output that goes along with it stopped validating the price tag a long time ago.
The 31-year-old defenseman recorded 7 goals and 17 assists for a total of 24 points in 82 regular-season games this year. He finished minus-12.
No power play goals. No power play assists. for about $9.3 million.
With a cap hit of $9.25 million, Nurse is one of the league’s most difficult sells this summer.
The issue is that agreement. It’s like selling a house that needs a new furnace: The buyer must cover the cost, though the bones are there.
Nurse contributed no goals and no assists in six playoff matches against Anaheim this spring. Zero points on the scoresheet. He did finish at plus-four, indicating he was at least on the right side of the puck.
Navigating this is GM Stan Bowman. After the Oilers lost that first-round series to the Ducks, the discussion regarding the roster rebuild now focuses on a pair of defensemen worth $18.5 million.
With $10.5 million, Evan Bouchard will receive the larger portion. Bouchard is a true offensive force from the blue line with 95 points this season.
But Nurse’s 24 points came in at $9.25 million. The gap between those two production levels and those two contracts is obvious.
The desire for the East limits the practical landing spots to teams that have available money, a need on the left side, and a front office that is willing to accept that amount.
This is a short list. And given that no Canadian team is obviously involved, it became shorter.
This won’t go quickly. A deal of this size and complexity rarely does. The next few weeks will tell whether any Eastern team blinks first.
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