{"id":601233,"date":"2026-06-18T02:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T02:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/601233\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T02:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T02:21:33","slug":"penguins-land-oilers-nurse-in-suggested-offseason-blockbuster-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/601233\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins Land Oilers&#8217; Nurse in Suggested Offseason Blockbuster &#8211; The Hockey Writers &#8211; Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/docs\/edmonton-oilers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a> will be trading <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/docs\/darnell-nurse\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Darnell Nurse<\/a> this offseason, and the Pittsburgh Penguins make sense as a potential fit. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The news of Nurse <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nhl\/article\/sources-darnell-nurse-asks-for-trade-agrees-its-time-to-move-from-oilers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">requesting a trade came<\/a> recently, and while Oilers fans seem ready to move on from him, it still came as a surprise, as fans were under the impression he wasn\u2019t going anywhere, despite a previous report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nhl\/article\/darnell-nurses-time-with-oilers-running-out\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Spector stating that<\/a> his time with the Oilers was running out.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Darnell Nurse has requested a trade from the Oilers, per <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FriedgeHNIC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@FriedgeHNIC<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SportsnetSpec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@SportsnetSpec<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Xv6YfaJN6n\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/Xv6YfaJN6n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sportsnet\/status\/2065135209385726460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">June 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nurse, who is 31 years old, scored seven goals and added 17 assists for 24 points through 82 games last season. Throughout his career, he has scored 88 goals and added 236 assists for 324 points through 798 games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His $9.25 million cap hit makes him hard to move, but at the same time, it sounds like the Oilers would be willing to retain some of it for the remainder of his contract. <\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Darnell-Nurse-Oilers-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Darnell Nurse Edmonton Oilers\" class=\"wp-image-1527957\"  \/>Jun 12, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) celebrates scoring against Florida Panthers during the second period in game four of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this article, we take a quick look at a hypothetical deal between the Oilers and Penguins involving Nurse. Keep in mind, this is not a report, and there are no indications that either the Oilers or Penguins have discussed anything involving Nurse. <\/p>\n<p>Oilers Dump Nurse, Land Replacement<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent post from David Pagnotta, it was revealed that the Penguins were a team that Nurse would be willing to waive his trade protection for, making them a strong possibility as a landing spot.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Per sources, the Kings and Penguins are two teams Nurse would accept a trade to.<\/p>\n<p>More on that, Hellebuyck, and other chatter across the NHL in today\u2019s latest piece <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Y8tpRs9Bkx\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/Y8tpRs9Bkx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheFourthPeriod\/status\/2065160471200808996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">June 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Penguins likely don\u2019t want to take on Nurse\u2019s entire contract, nor will they want to pay a significant amount to bring him in. I don\u2019t think there is a world where the Oilers could create a package strong enough to land someone like Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust, but there is still a way for the Oilers to bring back something that helps them. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hypothetically, the Penguins acquire Nurse, with the Oilers retaining $1.25 million, which drops his cap hit to $8 million, as well as a third-round pick in 2028. In return, the Oilers acquire Parker Wotherspoon. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wotherspoon steps in as a replacement for Nurse on the blue line, and he could be a stable addition to place alongside Evan Bouchard. Bouchard and Wotherspoon played together at the 2026 IIHF World Championship and were extremely solid, and bringing him in allows the Oilers to spread out their defensive depth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Penguins land a veteran defender with a lot of playoff experience, while adding a draft pick. They have a lot of cap space this offseason, and while Nurse might not be the answer to all of their problems, he helps the Penguins reach the cap floor, and gives them a veteran who has had success in the past. While the Penguins continue to try and contend before Sidney Crosby decides to retire, adding experience never hurts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There will be a few teams interested in Nurse as the offseason moves along, and while the Oilers seem adamant on moving him at this point, they have to be willing to retain some salary if they want to have a chance at bringing back a solid return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We will see what happens with Nurse this summer, but the Penguins seem like a possible trade destination for him. One thing is for sure, though, Nurse has played his last game as a member of the Oilers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the 2026-27 season approaches, be sure to continue following\u00a0The Hockey Writers\u00a0as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"thw-substack-cta__label\">Free Newsletter<\/p>\n<p class=\"thw-substack-cta__title\">\n        Get Edmonton Oilers coverage delivered to your inbox        <\/p>\n<p class=\"thw-substack-cta__desc\">In-depth analysis, breaking news, and insider takes &#8211; free.<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.substack.com\/s\/edmonton-oilers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"thw-substack-cta__btn\"><br \/>\n        Subscribe Free \u2192<br \/>\n        <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers will be trading Darnell Nurse this offseason, and the Pittsburgh Penguins make sense as a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5113],"tags":[1809,5,4,12934,118,1469,100,5216],"class_list":["post-601233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-darnell-nurse","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-parker-wotherspoon","tag-penguins","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-pittsburghpenguins"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116768727727776057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}