Darnell Nurse Reportedly Requests Trade From Oilers Amid NHL Offseason

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has reportedly requested a trade from the only NHL team he has ever known.

According to Sportsnet's Mark Spector and Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers want to move on from Nurse, and Nurse recently told the organization he would like to be traded.

Nurse has a full no-trade clause until next summer, and he reportedly submitted a list of three to five teams to which he would consider accepting a trade. Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins are two teams Nurse would be willing to be traded to.

The 31-year-old Nurse was the No. 7 overall pick by the Oilers in the 2013 NHL draft, and he has played his entire 12-year NHL career in Edmonton.

Nurse is seventh on the Oilers' all-time regular-season games played list with 798, and he has recorded 88 goals and 236 goals for 324 points to go along with a plus-66 rating, 725 penalty minutes, 1,692 hits and 1,466 blocked shots.

In 2021, Nurse signed an eight-year, $74 million contract extension with the Oilers. That came after he finished seventh in the Norris Trophy voting the previous season by virtue of a career-high 16 goals and plus-27 rating.

Nurse's production remained relatively steady the next two seasons, but the past three campaigns have largely been a struggle.

He finished with 32 points and a plus-3 rating in 2023-24 and 33 points and a plus-11 rating in 2024-25.

The Oilers reached the Stanley Cup Final each of those seasons, losing to to the Florida Panthers both times. Nurse was a minus-9 during their 2024 playoff run and rebounded a bit with a plus-2 in 2025.

This season was one of the worst of Nurse's career, as his 24 points were his fewest since the 2016-17 season when he had 11 in only 44 games.

His minus-12 rating was also his worst since a minus-13 back in 2015-16.

In Edmonton's six-game exit in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks, Nurse did not record a single point.

Nurse is battle-tested with 100 career playoff games, and durable having missed only seven games over the past four seasons, but his contract would be a tough pill to swallow for interested teams.

With a yearly salary cap hit of $9.25 million through the 2029-30 season, the Oilers would likely have to retain a portion of his salary in order to move him.

Doing so would give Edmonton some flexibility to make additions elsewhere, though, and the organization may be desperate to do so.

The Oilers already fired head coach Kris Knoblauch following their first-round playoff loss, and it was likely done because time is of the essence.

Superstar forward Connor McDavid is signed for only two more seasons, and if the Oilers want to get him locked into a long-term extension, another early playoff exit won't help.

The Oilers have a spectacular core with McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard leading the way, but the supporting cast needs to improve, and trading Nurse could help make that happen.