Nurse Details How His Messy Situation with Oilers Led to Necessary Trade

Following the trade that sent him to the San Jose Sharks, Darnell Nurse spoke to the media in San Jose on Wednesday. During that availability, he spoke about how things ran their course in Edmonton, and why it was pretty clear there was no turning back once the toothpaste was out of the tube.

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He mentioned that the expiry date on his time in Edmonton had passed. While some of the criticism was warranted, he knows some wasn’t and he became the whipping boy for fans who couldn’t get over the size of his contract. “So I think there were times that definitely when you have a high cap hit, there’s things that were definitely warranted … and there was probably a lot of things as well that really weren’t warranted, and for whatever reason that was, I was the problem, so that’s that’s how it works.”

Nurse was open about his struggles. “No one expects more of myself and the way I play than myself,” he said. He gets why fans were quick to jump on him and why the media continually asked questions about his at-times inconsistent play. However, he noted that the fans reaction to him wasn’t the real issue: “If I’m being quite honest, Joe from down the street could be mad because he can’t drink his beer and watch the second round of playoffs, but I live with each and every game and each and every moment throughout the summer, and try to learn from it, grow from it.”

By the time the Oilers asked to sit down with him and talk about his future, he already knew he needed a fresh start.

That led him to submit a preferred trade list of three teams: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Boston.

Things Had to Pivot and the Sharks Became an Option for Nurse

Unfortunately, the Oilers couldn’t make a deal work with any of them. The priority in Edmonton was to move Nurse’s entire $9.25 million cap hit. They needed the money, even if the return wasn’t great. And to the surprise of many Oilers detractors and doubters, Edmonton did well. They moved his entire cap hit to the Sharks and picked up Zack Sharp and Shakir Mukhamadullin, the latter of which might be a No. 6 or No. 7 defenseman in Edmonton next season.

So why did Nurse ultimately allow a deal to the Sharks? He was told he’d be crazy not to consider them.

“I was going through a process, and there were a few options that I think at the beginning of my process just made the most sense in my mind, and I find it for me, I went through a deep dive of what I thought was best.” He added, “Also, talked to a lot of people that are respected in hockey, outside of hockey, and it’s crazy, because every time I brought up San Jose, even when they weren’t like on my list, everyone’s like, “You’d be crazy not to go there.”

Ultimately, it worked out for both sides. The Sharks got a top-four, left-shot defensman. The Oilers got two prospects, and cap relief, which they used to sign Ryan Shea, Frederik Andersen, Kasperi Kapanen, Mathieu Joseph, and Max Jones.

Next: Oilers Nurse Trade One Win: Relief Over Return