Maple Leafs Were Never Really In on Oilers $74M D-Man — and Now Raddysh Makes it Official

The Darnell Nurse-to-Toronto hypothetical had everything a good NHL rumor needs — personal connections, a motivated seller in Edmonton, a new general manager looking to make his mark, and just enough links to the city to make it feel somewhat plausible. Scotiabank Arena, after all, isn’t far from where Nurse played minor hockey.

But, if there were ever any shred of truth to this rumor, it’s all but gone now that the Maple Leafs took a huge swing by trading for and signing Darren Raddysh.

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Raddysh is a useful player — a right-shot defenceman who can move the puck and contribute on the power play. He’s the kind of signing that signals the Maple Leafs new general manager, John Chayka, isn’t afraid to take swings. The Maple Leafs paid Raddysh $8.5 million after he made $975K. It’s the 3rd-largest increase in cap hit from one standard-level contract to another. They’re all in.

And, while some Leafs fans aren’t as sold as others, the Raddysh addition takes any notion that the Maple Leafs were looking at Darnell Nurse off the table.

Time To Drop Any Darnell Nurse to The Maple Leafs Conversations

Nurse carries a $9.25 million cap hit through 2029-30. That’s not a number you absorb into a roster that has already committed significant money to its core, and it’s not a number you take on after you’ve just spent $68 million on Raddysh. Chayka didn’t add Raddysh and then go get Nurse. The Raddysh signing was the priority. Adding more to the blue line is possible — especially if Toronto moves Morgan Rielly — but they won’t be adding Nurse.

There’s enough to like about Nurse that a fit in Toronto would have made some sense. He is 31, can play a ton of minutes, is a top-four on a good team, has a ton of playoff experience, and knows the pressure of playing in a huge hockey market. And, like Raddysh, his contract only gets less burdensome as the cap increases. If the Maple Leafs were to successfully move Rielly, Nurse as a left-shot option could work.

But, it’s the swing to add Raddysh and the quieter move to acquire Emil Andrae that make Nurse a long shot at best. There is little money left, and the Maple Leafs have other holes to fill. It’s also not clear that Toronto was on Nurse’s short list of teams to which he’d accept a trade.

What’s clear is that Edmonton now has one fewer realistic trade partner for a player who has requested a move, carries a massive cap hit, and can’t be dealt without his own consent until July 1, 2027. The Nurse situation was already complicated. Toronto being out of the mix and any hypothetical Rielly-for-Nurse deal gone, suggests the Leafs were never involved.

The rumour was fun while it lasted. The Leafs were never really going to do it, and now they’ve made it official.

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