The Edmonton Oilers are having an eventful offseason, with Mike Babcock likely returning to coach the team. That storyline has overshadowed Darnell Nurse, who has requested a trade after 12 seasons with the Oilers. The Philadelphia Flyers have a need on defense, but is Nurse the right fit? Here is the perfect trade offer for Philly to land the veteran nurse.
Nurse has four years left on his contract at $9.25 million per season. While that cap hit is more manageable now than it was back when he signed the deal, it is still a large sum. Nurse managed just 24 points last season, which is far below what should be expected from someone making that much money. But Evan Bouchard ran the powerplay in Edmonton, not Nurse.
The Flyers had the worst powerplay in the league last year, running at 15.7% for the entire season. They were even worse in the postseason, converting on just 8.3% of their attempts in their 10 playoff games. Getting a new defenseman to run the powerplay would be a good investment, but Nurse is an expensive one. That’s why they can only make this trade if the price is right.
According to PuckPedia, the Flyers have over $32 million in cap space to spend this summer. They have two big pieces of business to get done, with Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras needing new contracts. But once those deals are done, they can start to spend on new additions. They can fit all of Nurse’s contract under the ceiling, which should decrease the value of the picks heading back to the Oilers.
The Flyers’ perfect offer for Nurse is their 2026 second-round pick and their 2027 fourth-round pick. The Oilers cannot ask for much more, considering the poor play of Nurse in recent seasons.
The Flyers can look elsewhere for a powerplay quarterback
The top offensive defenseman on an NHL team has quickly become one of the most important positions in the sport. With talents like Cale Makar, Lane Hutson, and Matthew Schaefer running powerplays, playoff hopefuls like the Flyers need to keep up on the man advantage. Travis Sanheim is a nice player, but he cannot hold a candle to the greats at the position.
Nurse is far from one of the greats when it comes to running a powerplay. Any success he has had could easily be cast off on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two of the best offensive forces in the league. And when Bouchard burst onto the scene, he took the job and never looked back. The Flyers have nowhere to go but up, so their options should be plentiful.
One player who won’t be coming to Philly is Tony DeAngelo. Even after two solid seasons with the New York Islanders, DeAngelo’s former teams are unlikely to rekindle the relationship. He ran himself out of town in Philly, so scratch him off the list.
The best option on the free-agency market is John Carlson, who was traded from the Washington Capitals to the Anaheim Ducks at last year’s trade deadline. He spent the 16.5 years of his career in Washington, racking up 278 powerplay points. He won’t get to play with prime Alex Ovechkin again, but Zegras and Matvei Michkov would benefit from a veteran running the point.
If the Flyers do not want to pay Nurse as a top-flight defenseman for the next four seasons, they have other options. But if that salary does not scare them, the trade package should be light. They have extra picks to spend and a playoff-caliber roster already built. With the backup goalie question already solved, figuring out the powerplay should be next.
The post Flyers’ perfect offer for Oilers’ Darnell Nurse after trade request appeared first on ClutchPoints.
