The Philadelphia Flyers are looking around in the trade market for a defenseman and according to reports are at least interested in Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse. While it might initially make zero sense, there is a world where it’s a great trade for Philadelphia.
How quickly things change. Two out of the last three seasons, Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse was part of a team that went to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals, losing both times to the Panthers. Nurse, now 31, was eating up a bunch of minutes primarily as a stay-at-home defenseman, owning a skillset toolbox that was vastly different from the offensively minded and gifted Evan Bouchard. In 47 combined playoff games over those two years, Nurse ended up with five goals and 14 points over the eight series. Bouchard or Paul Coffey he’s not.
After losing to Anaheim in the opening round this year, there were rumblings that changes were afoot in Edmonton. Connor McDavid signed a two-year contract extension, and the inference was the club was in a win-now mode beginning this coming season. Nothing was off the table, and that included major trades. Or unloading possibly hefty contracts, both in terms of cap hit and length. One of those changes now looks to involve Nurse himself. According to reports, Nurse — who has a full no movement clause this coming year but a modified no movement clause the remaining three years (10-team list) — has agreed to waive that clause in order to start somewhere fresh in 2026-27. There’s no word on which teams Nurse has agreed to head to, but there’s growing speculation he wouldn’t be averse to ending up in Philadelphia.
Per @FriedgeHNIC & @SportsnetSpec, Darnell Nurse has asked for a trade. I am hearing there is mutual interest between Nurse — nephew of Eagles legend Donovan McNabb — & #Flyers. But what would he cost? How much retention is EDM willing to take? And is there another move?
— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) June 11, 2026
The thought of a defenseman turning 32 next February, and on the downside of his career, is rarely something that tempts general managers. Nor would the idea of Nurse’s remaining four years at a eye-popping $9.25 million AAV have people knocking down Oiler general manager Stan Bowman’s door. That’s a big slice of pie to digest, especially considering that his analytics aren’t quite up to snuff even for a stay-at-home blueliner. But, if the Oilers were desperate enough to retain anywhere between one-third to possibly (and ideally) half of Nurse’s salary the rest of the way, would Flyers general manager Danny Briere need to take a hard look at possibly landing him?
The relative merits of any trade for Nurse would be problematic, and we’re not here to discuss what would be going the other way to Edmonton. That’s getting too far into the weeds at this point, especially for a guy who has only listed a few teams he’d go to. But let’s take a look at Nurse the defenseman, and if a change of scenery could possibly make him a fit in Philadelphia. We’ll give a few reasons why it might not be the disaster many are suspecting it would be.
Nurse doesn’t come as damaged goods, does come with speed
Over the course of four years of his five-year contract with Philadelphia, Rasmus Ristolainen looked like a capable defender for short spans. Other times he was too injury-prone to be anything other than a player on injured reserve or long term injured reserve. A few surgeries curtailed the last few seasons, with the defenseman looking strong down the stretch and in the playoffs. But as the Flyers look to part with Ristolainen, would Nurse be a decent replacement? Well, for one thing, Nurse doesn’t come with a lot of injury scares. Over the last four seasons, he’s missed all of seven games. Last year he was in for all 82, and missed one playoff game this past season due to a suspension. In short, Nurse hasn’t had a lot of nagging injuries that Ristolainen has. That’s not to say Nurse couldn’t get banged up at some point over the next few seasons. However, for now, the Flyers would not be receiving damaged goods, at least nothing compared to what they’ve dealt with regarding Ristolainen.
In fact, Nurse offers something on the back end that might surprise people. He has speed. According to NHL Edge had a maximum skating speed of 23.20 miles per hour, putting him in the 96th percentile. He also was in the same percentile regarding bursts at or over 22 miles per hour (six, versus the National Hockey League average of 1.2). Nurse was in the 95th percentile regarding bursts between 20 and 22 miles per hour (95) and had over 400 bursts between 18 to 20 miles an hour, the latter good enough for the 93rd percentile.
His style should fit Philadelphia perfectly
Adding Darnell Nurse would not change the fact Philadelphia is still looking to acquire a high-end, top-pairing defenseman who can drive play and be a difference-maker regarding the power play. Nurse wouldn’t come in and suddenly fix all of the Flyers’ problems that way. This despite the fact he had 164 shots on goal, or 63 more than Philadelphia’s Jamie Drysdale had (101), which was tops among the team’s blueliners.
What he would be able to do is fit into Rick Tocchet’s defensive system relatively well. For one, he’s not a wilting flower, having delivered 129 hits last year while drawing 44 penalty minutes. He’s big and irritating to play against. He blocked a career-high 124 shots as well, so he’s not averse to taking one for the team. And he can play on the edge, which is something that Ristolainen never really has achieved in his time with the Flyers. He’s greasy. It’s an asset if you have a guy like that. Despised if you don’t.
Tocchet’s five-man system would most likely benefit Nurse. There’s not a lot of puck carrying needed, just simply getting the rubber out of harm’s way as quickly and effectively as possible. And while you can’t paint the entire team with the same brush, it’s probably safe to say the Flyers looked a lot more defensively sound most of the season than the Oilers, both from the optics and the analytics. Tocchet isn’t a run-and-gun coach. For one, the Flyers don’t have those horses yet to play that style. Secondly, that style doesn’t win in the playoffs, even with a combination of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Philadelphia takes care of their own end more often than not, and with the addition of Nurse, that mindset wouldn’t change at all.
Playoff experience
Nurse has been part of teams that have won at least 12 playoff games in a season twice. Once coming within a game of winning the Cup. He hit the century mark in his last playoff game this season at the hands of Anaheim. But 100 playoff games worth of experience is 10 times the amount of experience Jamie Drysdale, Cam York, and Rasmus Ristolainen have in their respective careers. It’s also 85 more games than Nick Seeler, and 70 more games than Travis Sanheim. So, while it’s not written in stone that playoff experience equals success, it would be an intangible the Flyer currently don’t have, especially on the back end. Nurse doesn’t have a Cup ring to his credit, but he’s been part of a team that managed to get through the dreaded Western Conference gauntlet in consecutive seasons. There probably isn’t a situation Nurse hasn’t been a part of regarding a playoff game, and could lead by example regarding what’s needed to succeed when it matters the most.
Nurse had no real partner in 2025-26
Of course, Darnell Nurse made mistakes in 2025-26 and had a lot of giveaways (83), the most in his career. However, unlike the Flyers, who seemed to have most of their defensive pairings set in stone most of the past year, Nurse had a partner by committee. In five-on-five play, Nurse’s top partner was Jake Walman (376:15), but it wasn’t by a sizable margin. The defenseman also played with Connor Murphy (289:13), Alec Regula (283:34), and Ty Emberson (194:02) with Bouchard being the exception most of the season (119:54). He also had stints with Mattias Ekholm (71:29), Troy Stecher (64:37), Spencer Statsney (98:42), and Brent Kulak (44:39). Needless to say, Nurse didn’t have a lot of consistency in terms of having a steady partner.
By comparison, Sanheim saw 662:03 of ice time with Cam York, and 487:33 with Ristolainen. Seeler and Drysdale were distant third (188:56) and fourth (101:22) partners. It’s not a guarantee for success, but having one or two defensive partners most of the year goes a long way to establishing some chemistry or synergy, something Nurse didn’t have much off all season.
The contract and retention questions
Clearly, the Oilers are needing to find quick solutions for two very good reasons. The first is keeping Connor McDavid happy and keeping their Cup contention window open. The second is keeping Connor McDavid happy and keeping their Cup contention window open. If Edmonton falls flat on their face this coming season, Edmonton would be insane not to consider looking at trading McDavid next offseason versus rolling the dice and losing him for absolutely nothing in the summer of 2028.
As a result, Edmonton is going to have to make some sacrifices, and one of those when it comes to Nurse is salary retention. In a perfect world, Edmonton would retain 50 per cent of Nurse’s contract, enabling the Flyers to be on the hook for $4.625 million for each of the next four years. That’s roughly $500,000 less per year they’ve invested in Cam York, and most likely less than what Jamie Drysdale might be asking for in the coming weeks.
Naturally, the Oilers aren’t going to want to eat that much of the deal, but they’re going to have to eat some portion of it with whoever they’re dealing with. That or send out a first-round pick to sweeten things up. Despite the rising cap ceiling, the Oilers have to find a way to unload a portion of Nurse’s contract in order to address some holes that need filling elsewhere. And if Briere is able to get Nurse with a cap hit between $5.5 million to $6 million AAV, that might be a good bit of business regardless of what fans and Flyers media circles are deeming to be a disastrous notion.
The Flyers just got out of the fiasco that came with Ryan Ellis, and are a year out (or less) from seeing the backside of Rasmus Ristolainen. Of course, some still wake up in a cold sweat from previous Flyers and their ridiculous six-year contracts. But having said all that, Darnell Nurse might be, for the right retention percentage, a decent piece for the Flyers going forward. It’s not an idea Briere should totally ignore, and at least kick the tires on.
Stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com, Hockeydb.com, Moneypuck.com, and NHL.com.
