Flyers Reportedly Have Internal Interest in Darnell Nurse

Perhaps not the name that Philadelphia Flyers fans were expecting to hear about, but it is being reported that the club has internal interest in defenseman Darnell Nurse.

Nurse is on the outs with the Edmonton Oilers as the two sides have met with one another to discuss their future. The Oilers signed Nurse to a lucrative 8-year deal in the summer of 2021 that holds a no-movement clause and a cap hit of $9.25 million; safe to say, things have soured over the last few years.

The Oilers are in desperation mode for the next couple of years as they try to do whatever it takes to build Connor McDavid a Stanley Cup roster before he hits unrestricted free agency. Equipped with just $14 million in cap space at the moment and a lot of voids to fill, dumping Nurse’s contract is very important to their future plannings.

Where the Flyers figure into this equation is that they are believed to be a destination that Nurse would accept a trade to, despite holding a full NMC at the moment.

Anthony SanFilippo mentions that the Flyers are aware that his play does not match his cap hit and recognize the risk involved. However, should the Oilers be willing to eat a large chunk of his salary, the interest would become a lot more realistic.

SanFilippo’s source indicates that while the Flyers haven’t had direct conversations with the Oilers on the matter, there are internal discussions taking place, but the biggest caveat is what would it take to get him out of Edmonton and how much retention would they be willing to accept.

50% retention would make way for Nurse’s cap hit to be a far more palatable $4.75 million for the next 4 seasons. However, would the Oilers really want to be saddled with that much dead cap during a time where they need every penny possible?

A 25% retention would make way for a $7 million dollar cap hit and SanFilippo believes the Flyers would be okay with that, dependent on what they have to fork over in return. With the salary cap rising exponentially at a rate of almost $10 million per season, it wouldn’t look as big of an albatross as it does right now or as it has since it’s been in effect.

It’s clear the Flyers internally view Nurse as a top-4 defenseman, otherwise they wouldn’t be okay with holding onto his services for 4 years at a potential $7 million dollar cap hit. However, that would likely spell the end of Rasmus Ristolainen.

DFO’s Anthony Di Marco has mentioned before that the Flyers don’t intend on bringing Ristolainen back into the fold when his contract expires next summer. He was likely going to be a midseason trade piece, but should they go out and acquire Nurse, expect something to happen in the summer instead.

SanFilippo also mentions that the Flyers interest in Nurse could be tied to the fact that they don’t have a lot going for them in the pipeline at the position. Oliver Bonk is not quite ready for the NHL, David Jiříček remains a question mark, and certain prospects like Spencer Gill are years away.

Swapping Nurse for Ristolainen isn’t really going to move the needle, but if they can resurrect his career like they did for Ristolainen, they could be getting a better player, but that’s a big if.

Nurse has 88 goals and 324 points in 798 career games across 12 seasons. He has averaged 22:30 TOI, has accrued 725 PIM, 1466 blocked shots, and 1692 hits. Additionally, Nurse has 100 games of playoff experience throughout 8 runs with 7 goals and 29 points to his name.

This past season he scored 7 goals and 24 points in 82 games to go along with a -12 rating, 104 PIM, 166 blocked shots, and 137 hits in 20:58 ATOI. It was his lowest scoring output and ATOI since the 2016-17 season and his -12 rating was his worst since the 2015-16 season.

He’s a few years removed from notching 12 goals and 43 points in 2022-23, he has 4 seasons in which he has scored double-digit goals, and his physicality and shot blocking prowess is something the Flyers will covet – and would likely need with the expected departure of Ristolainen.

It seems like a strange move considering how far his value has tanked over the last few years. He’s essentially going to be a reclamation project for the Flyers to turn around, but they seem to believe that a change of scenery could do him some good, and are confident in Todd Reirden’s abilities.

At the moment it doesn’t seem like anything is imminent from the Flyers’ side of the equation, but the Oilers are looking to sever the tie as soon as possible, and should they be willing to retain a large portion of his contract the Flyers will seemingly be involved.