A piece of information regarding Darnell Nurse is being circulated on Sunday, and it’s more significant than the majority of Oilers supporters realize.
Nurse’s signing bonus, according to journalist David Staples, is not paid on July 1. It is paid in February, December, and November. The amount of money owed is unaffected by the current date on the calendar.
This radically alters the discussion about trade. There is no financial incentive for clubs that may have been reluctant to wait on a contract, believing that July 1 triggered a bonus commitment for the acquiring team, to delay.
GM of Edmonton, Stan Bowman, has the option of moving Nurse right now, tomorrow, or next week, and the additional payment plan remains the same. A bonus payout tied to this day does not have a ticking clock.
At a cap penalty of $9,250,000 this season, Nurse scored seven goals and 24 points in 82 games. During the regular season, he finished with a score of minus-12. With a +4 rating, he was held scoreless in six postseason contests against Anaheim.
The cost does not warrant the output. That has been the genuine sticking point from the start.
There is no longer a financial justification for the Oilers to postpone a Darnell Nurse trade.
With 93 points, Edmonton placed fourteenth overall with a record of 41-30-11. This season, Connor McDavid scored 138 points. Leon Draisaitl scored 97 more goals. 95 points were added by Evan Bouchard. The issue isn’t the offensive power.
The blue line has been the source of the issue. A $9,250,000 nurse is taking cash that might be diverted to gamers who are actually producing results. At $6,250,000, Mattias Ekholm is a reliable investment. The rest of the depth after him is inconsistent.
This team isn’t made worse by moving Nurse. It does so by keeping him at that cap level while the market is still accessible.
There’s no reason for Bowman to justify it now. There will be no discussion of the bonus timing. A deal that seemed logical yesterday still makes sense now because the trading market is moving quickly this weekend.
The last remaining question is if Bowman can locate a partner who is prepared to absorb the cap hit.
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