Oilers News & Rumours: Bouchard Offer Sheet Scare, Nurse, McDavid

The Edmonton Oilers haven’t been overly active this offseason, but after another loss in the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers, it was evident they needed to make some changes as they try to push for their first championship since 1990. They brought in Andrew Mangiapane and Curtis Lazar in hopes of adding strong forward depth, but other than that, they’ve been quiet. In this edition of Oilers News & Rumours, we look at the report of Evan Bouchard facing an offer sheet, Darnell Nurse’s response to trade rumours, and Connor McDavid’s wife hinting at their future in Edmonton.

Bouchard Faced Offer Sheet, Drove Up Extension Price

In a recent episode of 32 Thoughts from Elliotte Friedman, it was revealed that many teams around the league believed the Oilers and Evan Bouchard would finalize an extension around $9.5 million annually. However, the threat of a potential offer sheet forced the Oilers to offer more money so they avoided the risk if a deal wasn’t done before free agency opened up.

Friedman mentioned the Carolina Hurricanes as a team lurking with a potential offer sheet, but it’s possible other teams were considering forking over draft compensation to bring Bouchard in, considering how strong his offensive game is and how much he elevates in the postseason, which led to the Oilers going over $10 million annually.

Darnell Nurse Seemingly Shuts Down Rumours on Instagram

After a recent report came out that the Oilers asked Darnell Nurse to waive his no-movement clause and gauge his interest in playing elsewhere, to which he supposedly declined, he took to Instagram to respond.