Darnell Nurse signs monster contract in Edmonton!

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Published 2 years ago
Darnell Nurse signs monster contract in Edmonton!
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Talented defensemen come at a HIGH price in the NHL…

On Friday, Sportsnet’s insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Edmonton Oilers were getting close to extending their star blue liner Darnell Nurse. And the contract is a monster one. 

Friedman believes that Nurse will ink an eight-year, $74 million contract; a deal that comes with a $9.25 AAV. 


Moments later, the team announced the hefty deal: 


There is no doubt that Nurse has established himself as the number one defenseman in Edmonton. And after seeing what other top defenders signed for across the league, it was to be expected that the Oilers would have to give him a raise. 

Last week, we saw crazy numbers come up on contracts of free-agent blue liners. We saw how much it took the New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks to sign Dougie Hamilton, and Seth Jones, respectively, who both who pushed their cap hits to $9M AAV or higher. And we can only add to this list RFAs like Cale Makar ($9M), Zach Werenski ($9.58M), and Miro Heiskanen ($8.45M) also made it clear values of top defensemen were high across the board. 

Nurse finished the 2020-21 season with his highest-scoring pace to date, tallying 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games. He will enter his eighth NHL season as one of the highest-paid players on the roster behind captain Connor McDavid  and star forward Leon Draisaitl. 

A lot of doe on three players, and fans are left to wonder if Nurse is indeed worth that much. 

He’s undoubtedly gotten better every year and showed how the Oilers can count on him in the postseason as well, but fact remains that Edmonton did not make it past the first round since 2017. You have to wonder if a shorter deal, at a more reasonable price tag would have made more sense… 

Fans have already taken on social media to share their shock with the numbers put out there by Friedman. 

Let’s hope Nurse can prove to the Oilers and their fans that he is worth that kind of money. 

Source: Sportsnet