The Philadelphia Flyers are going to look for upgrades in certain positions. That’s one of the most obvious statements we can make — as a team that entered the playoffs and actually won a round, will obviously look to improve themselves to get back to that point (and maybe win two rounds) next year. But one of those areas in need of improvement for the Flyers is their blue line and they could be sniffing around a certain Edmonton Oilers defenseman that needs a new home.
Darnell Nurse has essentially been told by Oilers management that they are going to be trading him this summer. The expectation is that he’s played his final game for the team that drafted him seventh overall 13 years ago. Nurse even has some of his staunched defenders coming to the realization that his time with the Oilers has come to an end.
And thanks to a recent report, there is a possibility that Nurse’s new team is going to be the Philadelphia Flyers.
Flyers ‘paying attention’ to Darnell Nurse situation with the Oilers
According to Anthony SanFilippo, the Flyers are at the very least monitoring what is happening with Nurse and if he could be a fit in Philadelphia.
Nurse has a full no-trade clause through the end of next season, but according to SanFilippo’s reporting from a secondary source, the Flyers would be a destination that the 32-year-old blueliner would approve a trade to. It isn’t anything concrete, as it is mentioned that it is from a source that isn’t defined as inside or outside of any NHL organization, but it at least makes it a vague possibility.
Nurse has four years remaining on his contract that carries a $9.25-million AAV. A mountainous cap hit that would be half a million over Travis Konecny’s, who is currently the highest-paid player on the team. But, there could be eventual salary retention involved — which everyone assumes will be the case since Nurse hasn’t exactly lived up to that salary since he put pen to paper — if a deal were to go down with the Flyers, according to SanFilippo.
The report mentions that there have not been specific trade discussions surrounding Nurse between the Oilers and the Flyers — which makes the whole thing questionable. But, there has been conversations within the Flyers front office about what it would look like if they were to acquire Nurse and if he would be a good enough fit for them to at least, more officially, inquire.
In whatever trade that could happen surrounding Nurse to the Flyers, there has to be some salary retention. According to these reports, the Flyers could live with a trade if it Nurse’s cap hit was brought down to around $7 million.
That’s not a crazy number, considering how much the cap ceiling is going to be ballooning over those four years remaining on Nurse’s contract, but it’s also a sizeable commitment to a player that hasn’t exactly had a lot of shining moments recently.
What would a Darnell Nurse trade mean for the Flyers?
Just last season, Nurse played all 82 games for the Oilers and scoring seven goals and 24 points while racking up 104 penalty minutes and having his lowest average time-on-ice since the 2016-17 season, playing just 20:58 TOI per game. His role decreased on the Oilers but his on-ice impact might have actually got worse.
In previous seasons, Nurse comfortable had above a 50 percent share in shot attempts at 5-on-5. While this past season, he had just a 48.2 percent shot attempt share, his lowest since his 2018-19 season. But, with his role change and not playing with star blueliner Evan Bouchard as much, that also meant playing with the likes of Connor McDavid less and that would automatically bump up those on-ice numbers in his favor. So, it might be a moot point.
But still, we’ve already outlined why exactly the Flyers need to avoid acquiring Nurse this offseason. Even at a reduced cap hit, whatever he brings on the ice isn’t really worth it in terms of committing to him for the next four seasons and blocking whatever potential prospect could have made an impact instead.
Even in the world that SanFilippo hypothesizes, that acquiring Nurse means that Rasmus Ristolainen will be traded for so much more than they give up for the Oilers defender. Making it so that they are able to replace what Ristolainen brings in physicality and potential defense with limited offense, while giving up almost nothing. It just gives the Flyers not much flexibility to then add a real difference-maker on the roster elsewhere.
If the long-term contracts for both Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale come in around the range we expect and combine for something like $15-17 million per year. And if Nikita Grebenkin, Emil Andrae (if he is back), and whatever backup goalie they get all come in around $8 million in a combined cap hit. Then that gives the Flyers something like $12 million in cap space with a relatively full roster.
If they trade away Ristolainen and replace him with a $7-million Darnell Nurse, that shrinks to $10 million. And then we’re talking about upgrading the center position and how much that might cost more. And then we’re talking about Matvei Michkov’s and Tyson Foerster’s contract extensions that will kick in for the 2027-28 season. And then Porter Martone’s extension the year after.
It just seems like financially, it’s not the smartest decision to make. To commit several million dollars to a defenseman who does not drastically make your team any better than it currently is.
Especially considering that a free agent like John Carlson could contribute and potentially fix something extremely broken on the Flyers (their power play), for just a couple million more than what Nurse would be in Philadelphia — it just doesn’t make sense.
If the Flyers miss out on Carlson and then get a massive haul involving a first-round pick and a very good prospect back for Rasmus Ristolainen, but think that they need a big bruiser still in the top four, then maybe. But is increasing Nurse’s minutes compared to last season, if he were to be on the top pair with Travis Sanheim or next to Jamie Drysdale on the second pair, really a good call?
After rambling about this for around a thousand words, it just feels like something that will either have to work perfectly for the Flyers and Nurse rejuvenates his career in Rick Tocchet’s system — or it’s a complete mess and we’re just waiting until they eventually offload him like we have been with Ristolainen for multiple years.
This summer will be, at the very least, interesting.
