New Jersey Devils: Should Ray Shero Target Darnell Nurse?
By Nick Villano
Reports say Darnell Nurse is not happy with his contract situation with the Edmonton Oilers. Should the New Jersey Devils call their favorite opposing GM?
There is trouble in paradise between the Edmonton Oilers and defenseman Darnell Nurse. Nurse is skating with the team, but he said something on Wednesday that shows that can end quickly.
"“I wouldn’t come to camp without a contract. Hopefully we get something done before camp so I can be out there [on the] first day. That’s the goal.”"
Obviously, that’s not what you want to hear when you’re trying to put together a bounce-back team. The Oilers are trying to get back to the point where they were a Stanley Cup contender. It doesn’t help to have your top-line defenseman refusing to show up to training camp. I mean, what is this, football?
Anyway, Ray Shero needs to hit three on his speed dial and call Peter Chiarelli. The Devils and Oilers have traded multiple times, including the biggest in recent history with Taylor Hall coming to New Jersey and Adam Larsson going to Edmonton. It happened again at the very last second of the trade deadline last season, when Patrick Matoon came over for a third-round pick.
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Nurse will be a hard piece to acquire, since defense was a major issue for the Oiler last season. However, there are some interesting defensive players the Devils could use to swap for Nurse. There’s Damon Severson, who’s the same age as Nurse with similar upside. However, Nurse has shown more now.
It might cost Severson and a pick, but it won’t be a high pick.
However, it might not even cost that. If the Oilers and Nurse are really that far off, it could be something else of interest to the Oilers. Either way, the Devils should definitely call the Oilers about the possibility of Nurse. He is exactly the kind of player the Devils are trying to build around.
Listen, almost every team will want Nurse on their team, and they will likely call Chiarelli, but Shero has a relationship with the Oilers. They’ve looked to make moves in the past. Also, the Devils can afford to pay Nurse market value the second he comes to town. Even if the compensation is draft picks and prospects, the team leads the league in cap space.
This may be a pipe dream, but Shero should be making the call if he hasn’t already.