The next shoe to drop in this offseason’s trade request carousel was Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers.
The trade request had been in the cards for a while. The chatter purports that Nurse and the Oilers were on the verge of a split since last offseason. However, Nurse didn’t want to leave Edmonton, leading him to play one more season.
Now, things have changed, and Nurse has formally requested a trade. Surprisingly, numerous suitors have emerged for the 31-year-old blueliner despite his eye-watering $9.25 million cap hit.
While the Colorado Avalanche are within light-years of Nurse, the question still begs, nonetheless: Could there be a connection between Darnell Nurse and the Avalanche?
At first glance, the Avalanche wouldn’t touch Nurse’s contract with a ten-foot pole. The hit is just too high. And even if the Oilers were willing to retain 50% of the contract for the next four seasons, fitting $4 million-plus under the cap would represent a significant challenge for the Avalanche.
But if there was a way for the Avalanche to add Nurse, wouldn’t it behoove Joe Sakic to at least kick the tires on that possibility? Would it be completely out of the question for Colorado to completely pass up on the opportunity to land Nurse, should it arise?
Let’s be clear about something. It’s highly unlikely that Joe Sakic is going to call Oilers GM Stan Bowman about Nurse. But if the situation somehow found its way to Colorado, wouldn’t Nurse look good on the Avalanche blue line?
The former first-round pick wouldn’t look bad at all as a replacement for, say, another former Oiler, Brett Kulak.
There might be a scenario in which Nurse fits Avalanche
The biggest hurdle to clear in a potential Darnell Nurse trade would be his cap hit. Still, the situation could work under two assumptions. First, the Oilers retain 50% of his salary. That would bring his cap hit to about $4.75 million.
The second assumption is that Brett Kulak prices himself out of Colorado, while Brent Burns doesn’t return. That would leave Colorado with two holes in the blueline.
To make the math work, the Avalanche would have to shed some salary. That could come from dealing Ross Colton. The Oilers would love to add Colton as the club will be sorely lacking forward depth.
That situation alone could make the math feasible for the Oilers and Avalanche. And it could happen if the Oilers get desperate enough to where they have to take a deal that’s less than what they expected.
It’s worth pointing out that if the Oilers seriously retained salary on Nurse, they would ask for more than just Colton. Perhaps adding another piece like Jack Drury. Two forwards like Colton and Drury might be enough to compel the depth-starved Oilers to make a move.
Overall, this deal doesn’t have much of a chance. While Nurse would be a fine fit in Colorado, the deal just doesn’t make sense when factoring in Nurse’s cap hit.
But it’s an interesting thought experiment. Do bear in mind that anything can happen, and things can change with one phone call.
Add us as a preferred source on Google