Value of: Jettisoning Darnell Nurse

[Superlative Soup]

They gave him a full NMC in addition to this ridiculous term and AAV?

Jesus Christ was there any negotiation at all?

Picked an incredible year to double his shooting %. I’m happy for him!

 

[Devilsfan118]

Holland just slipped him a piece of blank paper and told him to write a number on it

You joke but seriously what did giving the NMC buy - would the AAV have been over 10M/year without it?

Hysterical.

 

[Aqualung]

Wasn’t he ok when paired with Broberg? Why not try that out next season?

Just keep Ceci away from him.

 

[Scintillating10]

EDM can get back to the cup, but if they are to they need to get rid of this guy badly and retool the D a little bit around Bouchard and Ekholm. What would it take?

Would a team like Utah possibly with 10s of millions in cap space take him on for next to nothing from EDM?

After seeing the Jake Walman trade, looks like it might be bad news for EDM.

Oilers won't give him away

 

[PelagicJoe]

Nurse has the worst contract in the entire league. Best of luck finding a sucker to take it without Holland getting absolutely fleeced. Edmonton is likely stuck with him.

 

[57special]

Why would Utah take him for next to nothing?

A rebuilding team will probably take him for EDM 25’ 1st.

I disagree. A 31st oa is not the carrot you think it is, and Nurse's contract, and playing style is not what i would want anywhere near my top 2D, or even 3D.

A very late 1st seldom nets a prospect of note.

 

[StreetHawk]

Nurse has the worst contract in the entire league. Best of luck finding a sucker to take it without Holland getting absolutely fleeced. Edmonton is likely stuck with him.

Edm had the chance to sign him for term after his bridge. Ended up doing only a 2 year deal for a $5.6 mill AAV. Term at that point probably in the $7-$7.5 mill range if they had the extra $1.5 to $2 mill in cap space back in 2020-2021 season. They signed him to that second bridge deal in Feb 2020, before the Covid lockdowns. I mean, you'd figure that they would have tried to get to the summer and figure out a long term deal at that point. Especially if they needed to send assets out to move out a contract.

 

[Dion TheFluff]

probably take atleast 2 1st to dump that contract.

 

[UrbanImpact]

Nurse is an Oiler for life.

1. He is best friends with Mcdavid, and 1 game away from the cup, he is not going to waive his NTC to go anywhere else so kiss any trade ideas goodbye.

2. Buy-out. That contract is buyout proof. and would anchor the team just as bad in 3 years.

Lets say the Oilers make the stupid move and do buy him out....there's another problem....

Edmonton is one of the least places Free agents want to sign and live long term in, Edmonton is also top 3 in regards to teams being on players no trade destinations.


This is definitely the worst contract in the NHL, but just wait until MCDRAI gets their raise along with Bouchard, this contract will be nuclear in a couple of years.

 

[Cupless44]

I think this is definitely the worst contract in the NHL.

What ever possessed Holland to sign this player for 8 years at 9.25 million?

 

[StreetHawk]

Nurse is an Oiler for life.

1. He is best friends with Mcdavid, and 1 game away from the cup, he is not going to waive his NTC to go anywhere else so kiss any trade ideas goodbye.

2. Buy-out. That contract is buyout proof. and would anchor the team just as bad in 3 years.

Lets say the Oilers make the stupid move and do buy him out....there's another problem....

Edmonton is one of the least places Free agents want to sign and live long term in, Edmonton is also top 3 in regards to teams being on players no trade destinations.


This is definitely the worst contract in the NHL, but just wait until MCDRAI gets their raise along with Bouchard, this contract will be nuclear in a couple of years.

Best friends but didn’t take a bit of a discount to continue to play with Connor to help the team out. That was a premium price Edm paid for a home grown player.

 

[Breakers]

Of all the players that walked to free-agency I never would have though it would be Nurse

 

[herzausstein]

Full NMC for 3 more seasons
6 more seasons @ a caphit atleast 2 million more than it should be.
Friends with the star player on his team

He isnt going anywhere

Focus on getting a RHD that compliments his play and try to make things work

 

[FSL KINGS]

Might be the pot of coffee I just drank,
What's the ask for Nurse @4.6M so the King's can pair him with Doughty for the most expensive 3rd pair in hockey?

 

[MikeK]

I don't see Nurse going anywhere. One of the worst contracts in the NHL. With the buyout penalty being what it is he's likely an Oiler for the next 3+ years before he's a realistic moveable piece. Just a straight up bad contract that has already hurt the team and will continue to do so moving forward.

 

[ElPrimeTime]

I think this is definitely the worst contract in the NHL.

What ever possessed Holland to sign this player for 8 years at 9.25 million?

At the time, he didn't really have a choice. Klefbom was hurt and never coming back, Nurse was coming off of solid year, but the Seth Jones signing a couple weeks before really hurt.

2020-2021:
Seth Jones: 56GP, 5-23-28 signed for 8x9.5 on July 23
Darnell Nurse: 56GP, 16-20-36 signed for 8x9.25 on Aug 6

You just didn't see him falling off so much.

 

[Cogburn]

That's the problem with a deep playoff run where he was crap, everyone following hockey knows why Edmonton would want to jettison Nurse.

 

[StreetHawk]

At the time, he didn't really have a choice. Klefbom was hurt and never coming back, Nurse was coming off of solid year, but the Seth Jones signing a couple weeks before really hurt.

2020-2021:
Seth Jones: 56GP, 5-23-28 signed for 8x9.5 on July 23
Darnell Nurse: 56GP, 16-20-36 signed for 8x9.25 on Aug 6

You just didn't see him falling off so much.

They bridged him twice. Vs do term on the second bridge. Even at max term he’d be half way through it plus likely in around the low to mid $7’s range vs the $5.6 mill on the second bridge and less than the $9.25 mill.

They signed that second bridge deal early in Feb 2020. Not sure why they felt they needed the cap room then.

 

[BrawlFan]

It’s doable. It’ll likely cost RNH + a pick. The team taking nurse on will likely be moving RNH for a good return. That’s a good contract. But I doubt it costs much more than that. There are teams out there that traded for more useless players. Nurse is an overpaid 4. Not the worst thing.

 

[ElPrimeTime]

They bridged him twice. Vs do term on the second bridge. Even at max term he’d be half way through it plus likely in around the low to mid $7’s range vs the $5.6 mill on the second bridge and less than the $9.25 mill.

They signed that second bridge deal early in Feb 2020. Not sure why they felt they needed the cap room then.

They didn't have cap space. That February, when he re-signed, the Oilers had $14K in cap room. There were other mistakes made before that point that led to the need for a bridge. I'm not defending Holland, but in this situation, his hands were kinda tied. You either pay him what he felt he was worth before he became a free agent or you lose him. If you lose him, what message do you send your young, up and coming team?

 

[Drake1588]

I don't see a market, so I don't think it gets to what is the value where someone trades for him. More of a "...nah, I'll pass" on this player from other GMs around the league. A lot of people saw the limitations on this guy once the rest of the league stopped playing hockey this June.

Furthermore, while I wouldn't say this about a lot of players, I think Nurse might exercise his NMC if asked to approve a trade to a lot of teams. Edmonton isn't a prime destination, but I think in this case he's happy there and he has the full NMC to make that stick. Just a few dream destinations only, in my mind, and coupled with the contract, I can't see it making sense for anyone to trade for him for quite some time.

Revisit this if he has a stellar bounce-back year at some point. Short of that, nope.

And Utah specifically isn't going to be interested in serving as a dumping ground for misfit toys. That was a Coyotes thing. SJ seems a little more willing to take some of those deals in exchange for futures these days, but not this one. It's too bad and for too long.

 

[Panda Bear]

Yikes....

Sounds and looks insane but could almost make the argument they should buy him out for those first 2 years savings and go all in, that might be their cup window anyway honestly.

Their cup window begins to close when Draisaitl's contract expires in 24-25 then slams shut as soon as McDavid's deal runs out in 25-26.

By the time the Oilers get to 26-27, the Oilers will be on the hook for well-past-prime RNH and Hyman on top of no longer getting any surplus cap value from any of McDavid, Draisaitl or Bouchard.

At least if they bought out Nurse, they would be able to better allocate their cap over the next seasons while it actually matters.

TL;DR: The Oilers from 26-27 and beyond will imitate the Penguins from 19-20 and beyond.

 

[Panda Bear]

They didn't have cap space. That February, when he re-signed, the Oilers had $14K in cap room. There were other mistakes made before that point that led to the need for a bridge. I'm not defending Holland, but in this situation, his hands were kinda tied. You either pay him what he felt he was worth before he became a free agent or you lose him. If you lose him, what message do you send your young, up and coming team?

Holland doesn't get to have any "his hands were kinda tied" grace extended when he did it to himself.

The Oilers added Tyson Barrie for $3.75m a few months after bridging Nurse. They had the cap space to lock Nurse in at $7.0-7.5m, and they chose not to use it.

 

[IB]

Package Nurse with extended Leon. Who is crazy enough to take on that much AAV?

 

[Filthy Dangles]

This dude is really gonna cost McDavid a cup