The 2025-26 season hasn’t even finished yet, and it’s already been chaotic. They fired Kris Knoblauch shortly after falling in six to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. That has started a whole thing, but there’s also been a lot of smoke surrounding Darnell Nurse’s status.

It started with a report in early June, where Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that the Oilers wished to trade him “as soon as possible.” Well, on Thursday, Spector and Elliotte Friedman reported that Nurse has asked for a trade, giving the Oilers 3-5 teams where he’d like to be traded too.

Nurse has a full no-trade clause, which means that he controls his destiny and can veto any trade. With that being said, which teams could he be willing to go to?

Toronto Maple Leafs

It was reported that before the 2026 trade deadline, the Oilers attempted to trade Nurse to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Nic Roy. While there there’s a new general manager in town, but the Leafs seem like one of the more likely candidates to be one of the five teams Nurse has on his list, given that he’s from Hamilton.

Logically, it makes sense as well. Morgan Rielly is another left-shot defenceman who has appeared in recent trade rumours, and a swap of the two defencemen could be beneficial for all parties involved.

While the Leafs missed the postseason in 2025-26, they landed the first overall pick, so they’ll be right back to contending in no time.

Carolina Hurricanes

I listed the Carolina Hurricanes as a potential option, but you could realistically put a handful of contenders on this list.

Nurse has a bunch of playoff experience and came oh so close to winning the Stanley Cup twice, so it seems likely he’ll want to join a Cup contender. The Hurricanes have the cap space, but less of a need for a left-shot defenceman.

It wouldn’t be surprising if one or more of the Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, Minnesota or the Colorado Avalanche are on his five-team list.

San Jose Sharks

There’s been a ton of smoke surrounding Nurse and the San Jose Sharks this off-season.

It works for the Sharks for a couple of reasons, namely they are more than $13 million under the cap floor while also needing a veteran defenceman. Does it work for Nurse, though?

Well, the Sharks are on the up-and-up, missing the postseason by just four points. A big reason for that is the emergence of Macklin Celebrini, who scored 45 goals and 115 points in 82 games this season. Not only would he get to play with a young star on a team on the cusp of a postseason appearance, but he’d also get the opportunity to play top pairing minutes.

Los Angeles Kings

There’s a handful of reasons for these next two teams. Firstly, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that Nurse would accept a trade to the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins. We’ll get to the Penguins in the next section.

David Pagnotta

@TheFourthPeriod

·Follow

Per sources, the Kings and Penguins are two teams Nurse would accept a trade to. More on that, Hellebuyck, and other chatter across the NHL in today’s latest piece thefourthperiod.com/pagnotta/pengu…

7:53 PM · Jun 11, 2026

403

Read 95 replies

The reasons why the Kings seem like a possibility is that former Oiler general manager, Ken Holland, is at the helm. Holland was the general manager at the time Nurse signed this contract, so you have to imagine he’d have some interest in reuniting with Nurse.

Last off-season, Holland signed former Oiler, Cody Ceci, who happened to be Nurse’s defence partner for a large part of three seasons. Add in the fact that the Kings are a consistent playoff team, and it’s easy to see why Nurse would be okay with a trade to L.A.

Pittsburgh Penguins

In the middle of the 2025-26 season, Kyle Dubas acquired Stuart Skinner, a 2029 second, and Brett Kulak from the Oilers for Tristan Jarry and Poulin. The Oilers shot themselves in the foot with this trade, but it also shows why Dubas was one of the youngest general managers ever hired.

Before joining the Leafs in 2014, Dubas served as the general manager of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Just a month after Dubas’ hiring, the Greyhounds selected Nurse third overall in the 2011 OHL draft.

Back in 2020, the Leafs were rumoured to have interest in Nurse. Perhaps Nurse has interest in reuniting with his old general manager. It seems unlikely given where the Penguins are and the fact they have three left-shot defencemen signed for the 2026-27 season, but it does seem like a possibility.

In the same vein, New Jersey Devils’ head coach Sheldon Keefe was Nurse’s junior coach from the 2012-13 season until 2014-15, so it seems possible Nurse would have interest with reuniting with Keefe.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.