Nurse was ‘upset’ about news leak last year: Friedman

Darnell Nurse was upset that the news got out last off-season that the Edmonton Oilers had asked him to waive his no-move clause, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

General manager Stan Bowman is set to meet with Nurse in the coming days, according to Spector, and he is “ready and willing to trade Nurse as soon as they are able.”

On the latest 32 Thoughts on Friday morning, Friedman discussed the Nurse situation after Mark Spector’s article the day before painted a bleak future for Nurse’s place on the Oilers blueline.

“The interesting thing for me here is that a year ago, Nurse had a very emotional season-ending interview with the team,” said Friedman. “They went to him, and they went to a couple other guys. He wasn’t the only one. They went to all the guys who have the no-trade clauses, and they said, would you be willing to move? He was upset that that got out.

“He said no, he wouldn’t. And we reported on this pod, and it became a big story out there. Nurse was really upset about that, which is totally fair. I think he’s entitled to react how he wants to react.”

Even during this latest season, Nurse has been on the block. David Pagnotta reported the Oilers were working with the Toronto Maple Leafs on a deal at the Trade Deadline.

According to PuckPedia, Nurse has played four of eight years of his $9.25 million contract, but 2026-27 is the last season he has a full no-move clause in that deal.

But the Oilers’ position is becoming clear, with Bowman willing to lay out the options to Nurse. He can stay for another season, but it seems like at the first opportunity, Edmonton will move the high-priced defenceman.

And if he was upset about the reporting last season, how does this latest news land in Nurse’s ears?

“It’s clear they’re going to say to him, this is the last year you have control. Do you want to work with us or not?” said Friedman.

“Articles like that are a shot across the bow, and basically Nurse is being told, you can work with us this year, or we’ll do it on our own next year. So we’ll see. You still have to be able to make a trade. You have to know what the market is. You have to understand what you gotta do out there. But…it’s work with us now or we’ll do it ourselves next year.”