- David Pagnotta reports the Ducks have “serious interest” in trading for Darnell Nurse
- Nurse carries a $9.25 million cap hit and a full no-move clause
- Read below for why Anaheim lines up as a rare fit for the Oilers blueliner
The Anaheim Ducks want Darnell Nurse. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported Friday that Anaheim has “serious interest” in the Edmonton Oilers defenseman, the latest team to surface as the Oilers shop their highest-paid blueliner.
Nurse asked out earlier this month. His no-move clause means he controls the landing spot, and the early word had him open to a short list of clubs.
Pagnotta named the Kings and Penguins as two teams Nurse would accept a deal to, with the Flyers also in the mix. Anaheim wasn’t on that original list, which is the catch.
Anaheim checks the boxes on paper. The Ducks are sitting on more than $44 million in cap space after the draft and have just three defensemen signed for next season. They moved Olen Zellweger to Buffalo and shipped Mason McTavish to St. Louis for draft picks, so the roster is getting reshaped on the fly.
This wouldn’t be new territory for them. They took on Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider from the Rangers, so an expensive veteran with term doesn’t scare Anaheim off.
His $9.25 million cap hit is the real hurdle. Edmonton will almost certainly have to retain salary or take a bad contract back to make a deal work, which means the bigger question isn’t what the Oilers get back, it’s how much money the other side will swallow.
Now 31, he isn’t the 40-point guy he was in his mid-20s. He played all 82 games this season at nearly 21 minutes a night and cracked 100 penalty minutes for the first time, leaning into a heavier role behind Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm.
With John Carlson, Trouba, and captain Radko Gudas all headed for free agency next week, the Ducks need a left-shot defenseman to slot behind Jackson LaCombe. Nurse fills that hole. Whether Edmonton eats enough salary to get it done is the part still up in the air.
