Among the three-to-five teams that Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse is willing to accept a trade to are believed to be the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported Thursday.

A week after a report from Sportsnet’s Mark Spector indicated the Oilers would be approaching Nurse to see if he’d be willing to waive his no-movement clause for the second straight year, news broke Thursday that the defenceman had requested a trade, providing a short list of teams he would be willing to be traded to.

“As per sources, TFP has learned the Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings are two teams he would be willing to sign off for, and the connections seem clear as to why,” said Pagnotta, referencing Nurse’s links to both organizations.

When he signed his massive eight-year, $9.25-million AAV contract in 2021, Ken Holland — who is now the Kings general manager — was the one who signed off on the contract with the Oilers. Former Oilers defenceman Cody Ceci, whom he played 278 games with in Edmonton, is also on the Kings, and is entering the second year of a four-year contract.

He has a connection to Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas, too, dating back to their time with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, when Dubas was their general manager. Penguins pending free agent goaltender Stuart Skinner played 362 games with Nurse in Edmonton, while defenceman Caleb Jones, entering the second year of a two-year deal, played 95 games with Nurse in Edmonton.

Both the Kings and Penguins enter the off-season with a fair share of cap space — Los Angeles has $18.332 million in space, while Pittsburgh has $37.858 million.

The Kings have seven players entering free agency: unrestricted free agents Scott Laughton, Mathieu Joseph, Jeff Malott, Andrei Kuzmenko, Jacob Moverare, and goaltender Pheonix Copley, and restricted free agent Brandt Clarke. The Penguins, meanwhile, have eight free agents: unrestricted free agents Kevin Hayes, Anthony Mantha, Noel Acciari, Ryan Shea, Connor Clifton, and Stuart Skinner, as well as restricted free agents Yegor Chinakhov and Arturs Silovs. Both teams have plenty of draft picks, too.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.