Some trades have already happened, but the Boston Bruins are still in trade talks as free agency approaches on July 1.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has requested a trade this summer, as reported by Elliotte Friedman and Mark Spector. On Saturday, during the sixth round of the draft, Friedman chimed in with an update, saying Nurse has given the Oilers a list of three teams.
“Nurse has submitted a list of three teams to Edmonton that he’s interested in playing for,” Friedman said Saturday on the NHL Network. “We believe those teams are Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Boston, though there’s no confirmation.”
“However, the Oilers have kind of wanted to see if that might open itself up at all. The Ducks have been reported today as a team that might be interested. That might be a really good fit for him.”
Due to Nurse’s no-movement clause, he controls where he is traded. The Bruins reportedly being on the list naturally throws them into the conversation, but whether they should pursue him is another story.
To start, Nurse does not address the Bruins’ most pressing needs.
While they could benefit from a left-shot defenseman, specifically one to play top-pair minutes with Charlie McAvoy, Nurse locks in the left side until his contract expires in 2030. He will be 35. Also expiring in that summer: Hampus Lindholm (36) and Nikita Zadorov (35).
The need is on the right side, and Don Sweeney knows it’s a place they have to attack. He did not commit to naming it his biggest priority as July 1 approaches, as “improving your team” tops the list.
“It’s the focal point that we have to continue to get better. Again, whether that’s internal growth, we’ve had guys, Mason [Lohrei] did a good job playing over on the right side,” Sweeney said. “We could leave as is, but that’s not how we’re wired and how we’re built. We’re going to try and continue to push and improve in all areas of our game, and explore every opportunity that presents.”
Nurse, while having established himself as a top-four defenseman in Edmonton, has not lived up to the $9.25 million cap hit he carries. This past season, he posted 24 points (7-17–24) with a minus-12 rating, down from 33 (5-28–33) and a plus-11 the season before.
Making the money work would also be difficult unless salary goes the other way or the Oilers retain. After the Peterka trade on Friday, the Bruins have $7,715,417 in remaining cap space for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Don Sweeney, while obviously not naming names, did not shy away from moving cap space. However, like he said before the draft, all options are open.
“I’m not going to be specific to any particular player. I referenced that we have to look either through trade or what the marketplace will represent on defense to probably add to that group,” Sweeney said Saturday. “I’ve always acknowledged that I’ve been in continued discussions with both [Arvidsson] and Andrew [Peeke]. They are options. We have to explore all of it. In the next couple of days, we’ll be making phone calls accordingly from the standpoint of trades and whether anybody else is going to change things.”
More reports on Nurse take you all over the place. The Anaheim Ducks are emerging as another possibility, though not on Nurse’s trade list. On Saturday, Frank Seravalli reported the trade list has not changed, but the Oilers are struggling because the Bruins have “other lines in the water.” The same day, David Pagnotta reported the two realistic landing spots as Philadelphia and Anaheim, and said they are “battling this one out.”