Why a Darnell Nurse trade to the Maple Leafs could work

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Published Jun 11, 2026  •  2 minute read

Darnell Nurse #25 of the Edmonton Oilers flips the puck away against Morgan Rielly. Getty Images) Photo by Claus Andersen /Getty Images

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Darnell Nurse’s desire for a change of scenery could lead the defenceman back to very familiar surroundings. 

It wasn’t long after news broke Thursday that the Edmonton Oilers’ defenceman had asked for a trade that people were connecting the dots to the Maple Leafs. Scotiabank Arena is not far from where Nurse played minor hockey for the Don Mills Flyers and a short drive from his roots in Hamilton where his father Richard was a receiver with the CFL Tiger-Cats. 

Nurse is a long-time friend of former Leaf Tie Domi, whose son Max plays on Toronto, though is currently out indefinitely with complications from off-season surgery. While it’s been downplayed so far in potential player personnel moves, the Domis, new Leaf general manager John Chayka and senior executive assistant Mats Sundin are all friends which could influence Chayka getting to the head of the line for Nurse.         

But any deal is easier said than done. While it was earlier reported by Sportsnet that the team was shopping the 31-year-old Nurse and on Thursday confirmed that Nurse was requesting a move, the twist to all this is his no-trade clause until July 1, 2027.  

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In a perfect world for Toronto, it would sound out Morgan Rielly about going West, closer to his Vancouver home, and top up the deal with a player or pick. Both blueliners have long-term deals ending in 2029-30, Rielly is a year older. 

HAS RIELLY’S ROPE RUN OUT?

Rielly, despite defensive struggles the past few years with an increasingly impatient fan base, also controls his future, while Nurse at $9.25 million US per year is a $1.75 million higher ticket annually. For a 6-foot-4 physical defenceman the Leafs lack, they would exact a high price, though Rielly’s offensive skills could also thrive on a new team with two or three scoring lines led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.   

The rumoured list of teams Nurse would go to is three to five, though he can expand that if the ideal trade or destination arrived. Nurse is partly motivated to try something new by his years of service to the Oilers not yet yielding a Stanley Cup, though he was a big part of Edmonton reaching the final twice and had been a staunch supporter of their team make-up. 

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But this marks the second straight summer his club has pursued trading him and he naturally has concerns about the Oilers’ competitive future, whether reigning Ted Lindsay Award winner McDavid stays long term, and who the next coach will be. Mike Babcock, who could be in line for the job, comes with heavy baggage. 

Nurse to Toronto has been a talking point since Kyle Dubas was the Leafs’ general manager. He drafted Nurse to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2011 and it’s expected Dubas’s current team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, will be interested in bidding. They would have Sidney Crosby as a recruitment incentive. 

Nurse, picked seventh overall by the Oilers in 2013, has played almost 900 NHL games, 100 of those in playoffs, with 324 regular season points. 

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