5 Trade Landing Spots for Darnell Nurse Amid NHL Rumors

Darnell Nurse's time with the Edmonton Oilers is apparently coming to an end.

Sportsnet reported that not only were the Oilers looking to trade the 31-year-old defenseman, but Nurse also went to the team to seek out a trade. Although he has a full no-movement clause, seeking out a move means he's got control over where he can be traded.

Nurse gave the Oilers a list of 3-5 teams he'd like to be traded to, and while a limited number of suitors hurts Edmonton's ability to move him, his salary-cap hit is also a sizable problem. He carries a 9.25 million cap hit for the next four seasons, which means the Oilers would almost certainly have to retain some salary to facilitate a deal.

Despite everything working against a trade, Nurse is a solid defender who's most stung by his cap number. If he produced at a lower number the way he does, the chatter about him online, and perhaps in Edmonton, might not be so loud. He's capable, and on another team in a quieter situation, he might bring the best out of him.

But where does Nurse go? That's what we're out to explore for you today using reports, rumors, and our own gut instinct.

Philadelphia Flyers

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If there's a team that needs to deepen and improve their blue line this summer, it's the Philadelphia Flyers. With Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Rasmus Ristolainen, they've got a solid group, but adding a veteran like Darnell Nurse would help a lot.

Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Flyers and Nurse would have mutual interest in making a move:

The Flyers have a lot of cap space for next season, more than $37 million according to PuckPedia.com, and adding Nurse's salary would be easy enough to do without the Oilers retaining anything.

Of course, making a deal involving Nurse would almost certainly require Edmonton to eat some of Nurse's contract.

If Philly is going to run it back into the playoffs next year and improve on what it did, adding Nurse would undoubtedly help the team out.

Having him there to solidify what the Flyers have in place would make them tougher in their own end and give them a veteran who's been deep in the playoffs as well.

Los Angeles Kings

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If any opposing team knows Darnell Nurse best, it's the Los Angeles Kings, who have faced him repeatedly in both the regular season and the playoffs over the years.

That also means if Nurse was going to go somewhere new, he'd be more familiar with L.A. than with many other places, just the same.

The Fourth Period linked Nurse to the Kings as a possibility for a trade, and after peeking at the Kings' blue line, there's an opening there for him that makes sense. With Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty as a fixture together and veterans Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson, and Brian Dumoulin, Nurse would make for a natural fit on their second pairing and play a healthy number of minutes.

Nurse has the size and mobility the Kings covet, and his two-way game would bring balance to their blue line. He also profiles as a natural partner for young defenseman Brandt Clarke, giving him a steady guiding hand the Kings could certainly use.

Pittsburgh Penguins

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After the Penguins returned to the playoffs and were ushered out of the postseason by the rival Flyers, upgrading their defense makes a lot of sense, and adding Darnell Nurse could give them the kind of lift they need.

Pittsburgh is a team of interest for Nurse, according to The Fourth Period, and while the match may not stand out at first glance, knowing Nurse's history with Penguins GM Kyle Dubas helps illuminate the possibility.

Nurse played junior hockey with the Soo Greyhounds while Dubas ran the club, and adding him to the mix with Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Samuel Girard, and Ryan Graves would help upgrade and solidify their defense corps.

Although Letang's play has slipped a bit, Karlsson has had a resurgent season, and Girard has settled in nicely after being acquired midseason. Adding Nurse would make their top four on the blue line harder and more well-equipped to deal with foes in the East. Even more important, the Penguins adding him would keep him out of Philadelphia, and a little arms race never hurt anyone, did it?

Getting Nurse at a lower cap hit than he's currently got would make a deal work well for Pittsburgh, and if it allows them to bring prospect Harrison Brunicke into the mix and not force them to play him in heavy minutes and situations, that would allow the Penguins to really upgrade their whole blue line.

San Jose Sharks

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The Sharks are poised to be everyone's "it" team next season when it comes to playoff projections. With Macklin Celebrini running the show there, that's reason enough.

But San Jose needs help on the blue line, and adding a veteran like Darnell Nurse might be what helps put them over the top for the postseason.

The Oilers are in a difficult position in trying to move Nurse since he holds all the cards on where he can go, and if that means going to a division rival, so be it. If Edmonton were to move Nurse to the Sharks and it pushed them into the playoffs, there's a possibility those teams would meet in the playoffs.

The Sharks have young defensemen like Sam Dickinson, Mattias Hävelid, and Eric Pohlkamp waiting to become bigger players, while they've also got veterans like Mario Ferraro and John Klingberg set to be free agents this summer. They've got a boatload of cap space, and defense is such a need that adding Nurse would be almost a no-brainer if he were a free agent. A trade makes it a bit more difficult to figure out.

Chicago Blackhawks

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If Darnell Nurse wanted to go to a team that needs a player like him and is looking to take a step forward toward returning to the playoffs, Chicago would make sense.

The Blackhawks need help on the blue line, and Nurse's all-around skill set would provide a sizable upgrade for them while they wait for their young defensemen to bloom. Guys like Kevin Korchinski, Artyom Levshunov, and Sam Rinzel are learning the ropes in the NHL the hard way and without a lot of veterans, especially with Connor Murphy gone, ironically, to Edmonton.

Chicago has the cap space to absorb Nurse's salary-cap hit, whatever it ends up being in a trade, and even a hefty new RFA deal for Connor Bedard likely would not prevent them from adding him.

The bigger question is whether Nurse would approve a move to Chicago, given its lack of upward momentum in the standings, which could be a significant roadblock.