Darnell Nurse has just landed in major trade rumour on Draft day!

The Edmonton Oilers are doing everything they can to try and convince captain Connor McDavid that they are serious about winning the Stanley Cup. For the past two Stanley Cup Finals, in which the Oilers have lost to the Florida Panthers, goaltending and defense have been heavily criticized and earlier this week, general manager Stan Bowman made moves to free up some cap space by trading Evander Kane and his full salary to the Vancouver Canucks.

While he also signed on Friday morning forward Trent Frederic to an eight-year, $30.8M contract extension, which carries an average annual value of $3.85 million, he is also believed to be looking at trading forward Viktor Arvidsson and, on Friday, team insider Ryan Rishaug reported that the Oilers might be considering an even bigger move as defenseman Darnell Nurse’s name has come up in trade chatter.

“Lots of chatter in various circles about Darnell Nurse last night and this morning. My understanding is there’s nothing to it at this point. Lots can change quickly but as of now it’s not a thing.”

While Rishaug claims that there is nothing to the chatter for now, we all know how quickly things can change, especially on Draft day and ahead of the opening of free agency on Tuesday.

Nurse is set to enter his 12th season with the Oilers and is under contract through 2029-30 at whooping $9.25 million cap hit. He posted five goals and 33 points in 76 games during the regular season and added three goals and eight points in 22 playoff games.

The Oilers have a lot on their plate, nothing only to show McDavid how committed they are to the future and being a Stanley Cup champion, but also ahead of free agency. Forwards Corey Perry, Kasperi Kapanen and Jeff Skinner are all also slated for unrestricted free agency, while defenceman John Klingberg is also set to hit the open market after signing with Edmonton in January.

However, Rishaug also reported this morning that pending free agent forward Connor Brown will be testing the free-agent market after two years in Edmonton.

GM Bowman needs to handle his money carefully as we move into the offseason with defenseman Evan Bouchard needing a new deal as a restricted free agent this summer and the main focus on McDavid to an extension after the 2025-26 season.