Oilers blue line situation on hold
Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal: Are the Edmonton Oilers and restricted free agent defenseman Darnell Nurse waiting for the Vegas Golden Knights and RFA defenseman Shea Theodore to get their deal done for a comparable? Theodore could get a six-year deal at between $4.2 million and $5.2 million.
The Oilers could fit in Erik Karlsson‘s $6.5 million salary this season, but it’s fitting in his extension that would be the issue. The Oilers would need to do some major roster shuffling to pull that off.
Leavins thinks the Oilers could be looking at Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk, and that it could cost a roster player and a high draft pick. The Hurricanes only got prospect Cliff Pu and a couple draft picks for Jeff Skinner.
The Oilers bringing in a significant defenseman may not happen until they get a better understanding of how bad Andrej Sekera‘s Achilles injury really is.
Four big RFA defensemen remain unsigned
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News: Campbell recently noted that there are four big young RFA defensemen still looking for new deals – Noah Hanifin, Josh Morrissey, Darnell Nurse, and Shea Theodore. It’s likely that all will be signed before the start of training camp, but it’s not a given. The agents for all four will be interested in who signs for what. Nurse’s agent Anton Thun:
“There is a little bit of waiting for the shoe to drop,” Thun said. “You have a group of guys who are all in the same basket and one expedites the others. It’s kind of like the draft when you wait for a goalie to be taken and then there are five taken in the next seven picks.”
Ideally, the teams would like to sign them to long-term deals, but that may not happen.
If going the bridge route, they could get a two-year deal in the $3 to $4 million per season range. A long-term deal would likely be at $5 million plus per season.
The Oilers and Nurse’s camp have only discussed a bridge deal due to the Oilers cap situation, but Andrej Sekera’s injury and LTIR possibility could open the door to long-term deal though.
“I would think the first one won’t be Darnell Nurse,” Thun said. “But that could all change with one phone call.”