Spring 2026 will forever be remembered in Edmonton Oilers lore for two things. Breaking the streak of May hockey, and endless drama surrounding coaching and trade speculation. The coaching one in particular has made all of Oil Country numb, especially when including the hypocrisy of one division rival.
But if it’s not The Great Coaching Search eating up the headlines, it’s defenceman Darnell Nurse. His albatross contract has to be shipped out, and the money spent wiser. But now, it’s a matter of which team is most willing to pay him $$9.25M for four more years.
The Oil Rig’s own Ash Anjum has covered the most likely path, which would lead Nurse to Pittsburgh, aka Steeltown, USA. But the Penguins are not the only rumoured suitors. General Manager Stan Bowman has multiple contenders in play here. So, let’s look at the two other prospective trade partners, and see how much better they could maybe fare.
The Boston Bruins can offer an intriguing defenceman as part of the return
Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon has been the biggest voice suggesting that the Boston Bruins could be in play. The B’s suffered the same fate as Edmonton did this past season: solid enough regular season, only to lose to a fresh-off-a-long-playoff-drought team who would then bow out in Round 2. If we had a nickel for every time that happened in the 2026 playoffs…
Boston appears to be at a crossroads with their roster. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman bailed them out several times in 2025–26, but that’s not good enough. Not when David Pastrnak is still trying to win a Cup in his prime. And Mason Lohrei is one of many skaters under the Beantown microscope right now.
Lohrei was not able to consistently perform on the top defensive pair with Charlie McAvoy this season. Granted, no Bruin was, but the team may be eager to try and upgrade. Lohrei is profiled as primarily an offensive defenceman, but had a down year punching above his weight. It’s not easy, either, when McAvoy has the puck more often than you do.
Getting Lohrei for just $3.2M, even if he’s only marginally better than Nurse, is a lot better value. The Oilers could either use the freed-up cap space, or first dump whatever extra contract the Bruins make them take, to get additional defensive help. Logically, this makes sense, and Boston GM Don Sweeney has a track record of confusing decisions. This is for sure a potential path to keep an eye on.
Could Ken Holland reunite with the player he signed to the massive extension?
Both the current and previous Oilers GMs are equally to blame for why Nurse makes the kind of money he does. Bowman started it all by backing up a massive Brinks truck for Seth Jones, which is still ridiculous retrospectively. And Ken Holland waited too long to get Nurse extended, resulting in Nurse using Jones’s contract as leverage.
However, there’s been musings that “Kenny Money” might come through in the clutch once more for Edmonton. The Los Angeles Kings are in need of defensive upgrades. And apparently, nobody has told Holland he doesn’t have to only acquire former Oilers and Detroit Red Wings.
Now, this could go one of two ways. Either the Oilers would acquire a middling forward from LA like Joel Armia, or we could have Oliver Ekman-Larsson 2.0. The OEL trade saw then-Canucks GM Jim Benning replace three small mistakes by making one big one. And it’s hard to envision the Oilers wanting to replace Nurse with all three of Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson, and Brian Dumoulin.
This isn’t even a situation where we have to envision whether it makes sense for both teams. It’s Ken Holland we’re talking about, and it’s “once an Oiler, always an Oiler”. Never rule him out on doing something wild to help out his former club.
Do these potential trades make more sense than a Penguins one?
Ash’s post covered what most insiders who have speculated on a Pens trade, see as likely. The two names being thrown around are Ryan Graves and Bryan Rust. That’s obviously not the final result, but it’s, for lack of a better description, a mixed bag.
Rust has been a solid shotgun partner for Sidney Crosby dating back to the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cups. However, Rust is also 34, and the Oilers’ modus operandi over the past year has been to get younger, not older. Graves just turned 31, so he’s not much better off in the age department, and he spent a good portion of the past season buried in the AHL.
Realistically, there’s not a lot of great trade options out there for Nurse. However, if you’re looking for the one with the most upside, the Bruins may offer it. Lohrei is just 25 years old, and in a more sheltered role, is very much a useful defenceman. Any additional contract the Oilers take on can be cap-dumped rather easily.
If Bowman is serious about trying to win a prospective Darnell Nurse trade, he should have Sweeney on speed dial. Lohrei might not be perfect himself, but there’s a lot more value to be had in acquiring him. Ultimately though, all we can do is wait and see what happens, potentially as soon as this week.
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