Buckle Up: NHL Silly Season Is Off and Running
The Wild World of NHL Trade Rumors Is Back...
The Stanley Cup Final isn’t even finished yet, and the NHL rumor mill is already producing enough chaos to keep every hockey reporter busy and every fan refreshing their social feed through July. Four stories broke in rapid succession this week, and the feeling is that this is only the beginning.
Elliotte Friedman suggested on his recent 32 Thoughts podcast that players are feeling more leverage than ever and more trade requests are coming. Teams are getting more ruthless in their attempts to improve and work the rising salary cap.
The drama is just beginning.
Consider this your warning: it’s only going to get louder from here.
The Nurse Situation: A Trade Only He Can Authorize
The Edmonton Oilers made front-page news this week as a storyline that has been bubbling beneath the surface for months crystallized. Edmonton is actively working to move Darnell Nurse and his $9.25 million cap hit. Their plan is to sit with him this week and discuss his willingness to consider a move.
Sportsnet's Mark Spector wrote that the organization has clearly decided his time is up. The problem? Nurse holds a full no-movement clause, which effectively strips the Oilers of any real negotiating power this summer. He controls where he goes — and honestly, whether he goes at all.
This puts Edmonton in an uncomfortable spot heading into what should be a busy offseason. They can signal all they want that it’s time to move on. But unless they’re willing to threaten to move him next summer to a less desirable destination, they can’t force his hand. They can schedule the meetings, float the names, and take calls from interested teams they want. But until Nurse decides he’s open to a change of scenery, nothing happens.
The Knies Trade to Montreal That Almost Was
