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Oilers’ Darnell Nurse prefers Eastern Conference, drawing ‘legitimate interest’
Photo credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Jun 12, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 12, 2026, 15:31 EDT
More information on Darnell Nurse’s trade preferences is coming out after he agreed to seek a trade from the Edmonton Oilers.
The news broke on Wednesday that Nurse has requested a trade, providing a list of 3-5 teams the left-shot defenceman would waive his full no-move clause to go to.
Elliotte Friedman said on the latest 32 Thoughts on Friday that Nurse would prefer to be traded to the Eastern Conference. If the Oilers are willing to retain a chunk of the money, they can make a hockey trade.
“People are like asking me, is it Florida, Vegas, and Minnesota again, or something like that?” said Friedman on Nurse’s trade list. “I don’t think it’s like that. I think it’s mostly East,” adding that he doesn’t believe a Canadian team is on the list.
“If there’s a West team, and I stress, if, because I don’t know, I would think it would be LA, simply because he knows the manager there.”
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period reported two teams he believes are interested are the Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
How the information was made public shows there is legitimate interest in acquiring Nurse, according to Friedman.
“I think some teams who weren’t on the list started to get wind of it and began to ask, okay, are we on the list?” said Friedman. “If not, could we get on it? I think there is interest.
“I do think Edmonton’s going to be able to make a hockey deal here. I will say this. I had one team tell me that the biggest issue is going to be retention, and not like 50 per cent. I don’t think anybody thinks the Oilers are going to do that.
“But Nurse’s number is $9.25 million. I had some people say to me, if it can come down to between $7 and $7.25 million, they think there’s room for this to happen.”
Entering the fifth year of his eight-year contract, this season is the last Nurse has a full no-move clause, according to PuckPedia. He has a major say in where he accepts a trade, too.
Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.
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