Sportsnet’s Mark Spector and Elliotte Friedman reported in a shared column on Thursday, ” Last week, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported the Oilers would like to trade Nurse, and, according to multiple sources, the defenceman recently went to the organization and said he would like to be traded. He now feels it is time for him to move on.” 

In other words, Nurse understood that after being asked twice to waive his no-move, it would be awkward and uncomfortable to return next season. As such, he’s given the Oilers a list of three to five teams he’s willing to join and is looking for a fresh start.

Darren Dreger adds, “Nurse and his rep presented the Oilers with a list a week ago. There have been many conversations. Darnell is ready for a change.”

This is a huge shift in the Nurse trade saga that has been ongoing for over a year. Frankly, things haven’t been great since he signed his huge extension, a $9.25 million long-term contract, that he was unlikely to live up to. Over the past couple of seasons, he’s taken the heat for some of the failures in Edmonton, but he remained part of the core leadership group along with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman.

Now, it appears, he’ll be leaving that core group and trying to win elsewhere.

It isn’t known which teams are on his list. The San Jose Sharks have been linked in rumors for some time. There’s been talk of a Morgan Rielly trade from Toronto, Recently, reports suggested that the Philadelphia Flyers were interested. Nurse is the nephew of Philadelphia Eagles legend Donovan McNabb. David Pagnotta reports, “Per sources, the Kings and Penguins are two teams Nurse would accept a trade to.”

Next: Insider Says the Edmonton Oilers Are All In on Mike Babcock