It certainly feels like the Philadelphia Flyers are going to try to do something to change up their blue line — could that involve trading for Darnell Nurse from the Edmonton Oilers?
Nurse does have a full no-movement clause so he’s going to dictate where he ends up getting traded to after his time in Edmonton has almost certainly come to an end. And according to recent reporting, the 31-year-old defenseman has handed a list of just a few teams to the Oilers that he would be open to moving to, and one of them is the Philadelphia Flyers.
Flyers among Nurse’s approved teams for a trade
According to Elliotte Friedman, there are three teams who are most likely to be on Nurse’s list that he will be completely fine getting traded to at any point this summer.
“That one’s kind of gone a little quiet on the weekend as the draft went on,” Friedman said on the NHL Network broadcast during the final picks of the 2026 NHL Draft. “Nurse has submitted a list of three teams to Edmonton that he’s interested in playing for. We believe those teams are Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Boston; although there is no confirmation. However, the Oilers have wanted to see if that will open itself up at all. The Ducks, have been reported today as a team that could be interested. We’ll see where this goes over the next few days.”
Nurse has been linked to the Flyers in the past. A couple weeks ago, when a lot of the commotion surrounding Nurse and how the Oilers want to move on from one of the longest-tenured players on their roster, the Flyers were supposedly “monitoring” the situation and were seen as at least a little bit interested in the player.
Now as the Hamilton, Ont. native is still on Edmonton’s roster and a trade seems to be coming down any day now — albeit the NHL Draft has apparently slowed down some trade discussion around the player — the Flyers seem like a more logical destination.
Nurse is a 6-foot-4, mobile and left-handed defenseman that can chip in offensively here and there but is largely more of a stopper of plays than a starter. He has produced solid underlying numbers — this past season was his first since 2019-20 that he had a shot attempt share under 50 percent at 5-on-5 — and can really insulate some more offensively minded defensemen on a blue line. He’s a perfectly solid addition to any team, but of course in the right role. He was miscast as the Oilers’ No. 1 for the past few seasons and after getting a contract that the typical top defender gets, his reputation has sullied among fans.
With four years left on his contract with a sizeable $9.25-million AAV, any trade with Nurse involved will need some cap finagling. Whether it is the Oilers simply retaining a portion of his salary or them receiving some other veteran player that is also overpayed but might fit what they need more, something will have to give.
Flyers might see a positive upgrade in trading for Nurse
With the recent reports that Rasmus Ristolainen is on the trade block and involved in just about every single trade conversation surrounding the Flyers, there is technically a hole that is opening on the Flyers’ blue line.
There is a world where the Flyers get their asking price of a first-round pick for Ristolainen and his one single year contract year left, and then go out and spend a much lesser asset and bring in Nurse to replace some of what Ristolainen brought to the table. They would be missing his physicality and size on the back end, and Nurse brings all of that and even a little bit more offensive juice and mobility than the large Finnish rearguard.
And now that the Flyers are almost certainly out of the John Carlson sweepstakes after the veteran blueliner had his signing rights traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, the possibility of adding a needle-moving veteran for a lower cost is not really there, other than Nurse. And if the player wants to come to Philadelphia, that’s even more reason to look into it and see if there’s a possibility to not even pay that much to get him.
The contract is not great, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if by adding Nurse, and then handing the offensive reins over to a young David Jiricek or Oliver Bonk getting a chance out of training camp, that the Flyers’ blue line looks better than what they had last season.
Now, Zach Werenski might just change everything so why are we even thinking about a Darnell Nurse trade?
