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NHL source suggests Oilers should ask core player to waive no-move clause, pay big price for trade
Photo credit: Jim Rassol -Imagn Images
Darnell Nurse has been severely struggling this season, and now there's more noise about asking him to waive his no-trade clause.
A front-office source was recently cited by Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Athletic, claiming the Oilers should trade Darnell Nurse for a top-four right-defenseman.
A league source with front-office experience said the Oilers should prioritize landing a top-four, right-handed defenseman that the club lacks behind Evan Bouchard. The source added that more cap space can be created by trading Nurse - his full no-movement clause is reduced to include a partial no-trade addendum in 2027 - even if that means retaining money.
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman
Nurse's no-movement-clause modifies in 2027-28 season
For the Oilers to trade Darnell Nurse for a top-4 right-handed defenseman, however, he would have to waive his full no-movement clause. In July 2025, Nurse hinted he might be open to it at the time, following reports of a possible trade.
According to PuckPedia, Darnell's full-NMC will modify in 2027-28, to a ten-team trade list, though he would still have to approve the trade, as well as any demotion to the minors, or being placed on waivers.
In addition, Nurse's high cap hit of $9.25M through 2029-30 makes a trade challenging, as few teams could absorb such a cap hit, while his poor start to the year complicates a deal even further.
Edmonton has a surplus of left-handed defensemen, including Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, and Brett Kulak; but a need for a reliable right-handed defenseman beyond Evan Bouchard is much needed to balance their defensive pairings.
In eleven games thus far, Nurse has scored one goal and 4 assists, and is a minus-3, while skating an average TOI of 20:42. For a player with such a high cap hit, his production is just not good enough.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 30 | 608 ANSWERS NHL source suggests Oilers should ask core player to waive no-move clause, pay big price for trade Should Oilers trade Darnell Nurse and retain some salary to make it possible? | ||
| yes | 424 | 69.7 % |
| no | 184 | 30.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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